An Air India special flight that took off from New Delhi to Ukraine early on Thursday to ferry back Indians remaining there is returning to the capital after Russia launched military operations in the Eastern European nation.
Air India flight AI 1947 had taken off from New Delhi around 7am, bound for the Boryspil International Airport. This was the second of three scheduled Air India flights to Ukraine. A third Air India flight was scheduled to leave for Kyiv on February 26. A total of 254 people returned on the first evacuation flight on Tuesday.
“The AI Dreamliner was around 9.15 am about to enter Iranian airspace from Pakistan enroute Ukraine,” The Times of India reported. The Indian government had last week removed restrictions on flights to Ukraine and advised its nationals there to temporarily leave the country, given the risk of conflict.
It is unclear whether more evacuation flights will be launched by India given the commencement of hostilities. There is also no clarity on how many Indian nationals remain in the country. “A significant number of Indian students in Ukraine have left the country on Ukraine International Airlines, and the several one-stop options that existed like Qatar Airways, flyDubai, Emirates and other Gulf carriers,” The Times of India reported.
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Ukraine closed off its civilian airspace citing the threat of conflict earlier in the day. Reports said passengers and staff from the Boryspil International Airport were evacuated early on Thursday.
Ukraine's government claimed Russian missiles had hit targets in Kyiv such as airfields and military administrative facilities, raising the risk to civilian flights. In addition, analysts and foreign observers have warned Russia could attempt to take control of the Boryspil Airport by an airborne assault to make it a beachhead to land more troops for an invasion.
