Ukrainian airspace closed; Indian passengers can return via Qatar, says govt

NEW DELHI: An Air India plane that took off for Kyiv in Ukraine on Thursday morning to bring back Indians from the eastern European nation was called back to Delhi due to the closure of Ukrainian airspace amid the Russian military offensive. After the Air India flight had departed from Delhi on Thursday morning, the Ukrainian authorities issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), which stated that flights of civil aircraft within Ukraine "are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation".

Air India and the central government then decided to call back the plane to Delhi, officials said, adding that the plane took an about-turn in the Iranian airspace to return to Delhi. An airline spokesperson said the Air India flight AI 1947 is returning as a NOTAM has been issued at Kyiv. The flight started from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here at around 7.30 am for Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv. The flight landed back at the IGIA at around 1 PM on Thursday. Meanwhile, a Ukraine International Airlines flight from Kyiv landed at the Delhi airport at around 7.45 am on Thursday.

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"There were 182 Indian nationals onboard the flight and majority of them were students... A couple of more flights have been scheduled," Anju Wariah, Director at STIC Group, said. The group is the General Sales Agent (GSA) for Ukraine International Airlines in India. After weeks of rising tensions, Russia on Thursday announced a military operation against Ukraine. Air India's Thursday flight was scheduled to be the second flight to bring back Indians from the eastern European nation. The first flight, operated on February 22, brought back around 240 people. On February 19, Air India announced that it would operate three flights between India and Ukraine on February 22, 24 and 26.

The Centre on Thursday said Indian passengers from Ukraine can return via Qatar, with aviation industry experts stating that civilian flights will restart from Ukraine only when its airspace opens. Currently 20,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine. Since the Ukrainian airspace is closed due to the Russian military offensive, it is currently not clear how they are to travel from Ukraine to Qatar to take Qatar-India flights, which are operating normally.

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The authorities of the eastern European country issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) Thursday morning stating that civilian flights within Ukraine "are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation". The Indian Embassy in Qatar said on Twitter, "Government of India, ministry of civil aviation has allowed passengers traveling from Ukraine to travel by transit under India-Qatar bilateral air bubble arrangement." This means that the passengers coming from Ukraine to Qatar will be able to board flights operating between Qatar and India.

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Stalin demands special mission flights to evacuate TN students stranded in Ukraine

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Thursday appealed to the Centre to arrange special flights like the Vande Bharath Mission to immediately evacuate Tamil Nadu students stranded in Ukraine, following the Russian offensive against the Eastern European country. Urging the Centre to take up the matter with the authorities there immediately, Stalin said, "I request the Government of India to arrange for Special Mission flights like Vande Bharath Mission to evacuate them from various parts of Ukraine." "I solicit your urgent action in this regard," he said in a letter addressed to external affairs minister S Jaishankar, a copy of which was made available to the media here.

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The chief minister said about 5,000 students from Tamil Nadu, mostly in professional courses and other emigrants from the state were now stranded in Ukraine. "We have been receiving hundreds of distress calls from the family members of the students studying in Ukraine requesting for their urgent evacuation. However, it has come to our notice that airports in Ukraine are closed. They are in need of our support to be brought back to India safely," the chief minister said in the letter. For its part, the state government has opened 24x7 help desks and appointed a state Nodal Officer to facilitate evacuation of stranded Tamils in Ukraine to coordinate with the government of India, their families and district administration.

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"Considering the high number of Tamilians in Ukraine it is requested that a Nodal Officer may be nominated for coordination with the Tamil Nadu government. I request the government of India to take up this issue with the authorities there for evacuating them out of Ukraine immediately," Stalin urged Jaishankar. Meanwhile, with Ukraine closing its airspace to civilian flights following Russia's military action in that country, the state government has appealed to the stranded students not to venture out but remain in touch with the Indian embassy there, a senior official said. The sudden closure of airspace and mounting tension has made the students and their parents in the state panicky. "We have asked the students stranded in Ukraine not to venture out but remain in constant touch with the Indian embassy there," Jacintha Lazarus, director of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non Resident Tamils, told PTI.