AI ready to fly out Egypt NRIs
Jan. 30: The Air India on Sunday evening operated an “unscheduled commercial flight” from Mumbai to Cairo so that interested passengers could leave strife-torn Egypt.
Air India sources said the government had asked the airline to operate the unscheduled commercial flights to Egypt and back on Sunday for the benefit of Indians who might want to fly back to India; therefore, the AI flight which took off from Mumbai at about 5.15 pm was “not an evacuation or rescue flight”.
The fares being charged from the passengers are reasonable and in step with the fares that would usually be charged for the sector.
The implications of operating an unscheduled commercial flight would mean that the Air India would bear the operating costs, in contrast to an evacuation or rescue flight where the government would pay the Air India for the flight despite the fact that the government owns the national carrier.
The return leg of the flight is expected to reach Mumbai at about 7 am on Monday with about 380 passengers, mainly women and children. The Indian embassy in Cairo is making arrangements to evacuate some of its staff and their dependents, and other Indian nationals.
The embassy would evacuate the persons of Indian origin should they make the request. There are about 3,600 PIOs in Egypt, of which about 2,200 are in Cairo. The embassy has set up a control room in Cairo.
The telephone numbers of the control rooms are: +202 27360556, +202 27360052, and +202 27356168. On Saturday, the MEA had issued a travel advisory asking Indian nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Egypt.
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