An Air India plane departed for Cairo on Wednesday to rescue Indian nationals and tourists still stranded there. The empty aircraft, which took off in the afternoon, is the third such flight being operated by the airline following mass protests in Egypt to oust President Hosni Mubarak.
An Air India (AI) flight left Mumbai in the afternoon, all empty except for the required crew, to bring back passengers from Egypt. This is the third special flight operated by the airline on government orders.
According to an official, there are 3,000 Indians still stuck in the crisis-ridden country, most of whom are on business trips or their honeymoon. "The Indian embassy is in touch with all those stranded there, collecting requisite documents and making arrangements to fly them home," the official said.
"The Boeing 747-800 that took off from the Mumbai airport at 2.40 pm is expected to return early on Thursday. We can operate more such flights if the government wants us to," an AI official said, adding that the turnaround time of the flight would depend on the conditions in Cairo. "An international flight has to hold for three hours before it can start again,'' he said. "Even for this flight, passengers will have to pay double the usual (ticket) cost. Those who do not have ready cash will have the option of signing a bond with AI promising to pay the amount within a stipulated time frame." a senior official said.
The national carrier had once again diverted one of its commercial flights, which was scheduled to fly to another destination, for the Cairo mission, an airline spokesperson said.
"The passengers who were supposed to travel on the cancelled sector have been accommodated on other flights on the same route. They were duly informed and transferred to other aircraft scheduled through the day,'' the spokesperson said refusing to divulge details. Earlier, AI had diverted its Mumbai-Cochin and Mumbai-Jeddah flights to Cairo.
Incidentally, AI pilots and other crew have extended their full support to the airline for the rescue operation. "Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) has always been a bone of contention between airlines and the pilots. However, in wake of the crisis, pilots have said that they will pull out all the stops if the need arises," the official added.
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