Vande Bharat Mission Phase 5 Latest News: As the Central government’s Vande Bharat Mission Phase 5 began its operations from August 1, SpiceJet said it operated the charter flight from Amsterdam to Bengaluru and Hyderabad on Sunday and brought back 269 Indians. Also Read – Vande Bharat Mission Phase 5 Begins Today, Air India Adds More Destinations Apart From Air Bubble Flights

Issuing a statement, the low-cost carrier said it had chartered a wide-body A330neo aircraft from Portugese airline Hi Fly for this flight from Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Also Read – International Flights: Turkey to Operate Flights to India, Other Countries From Aug 1 | Check Ticket Fare, Schedule, Other Details

While the Amsterdam-Bengaluru leg of the flight had the Hi Fly’s call sign 5K471, the Bengaluru-Hyderabad leg had the SpiceJet’s call sign SG471. Also Read – Vande Bharat Mission: GoAir Clocks More Than 200 International Charter Flights

“The flight arrived in Bengaluru at 8.58 AM IST and the same aircraft then proceeded to Hyderabad with the remaining passengers,” SpiceJet said in a statement.

It said that the twin-aisle A330neo aircraft used by SpiceJet has a configuration of 353 economy and 18 business class seats.

The Central government on August 1 started the phase 5 of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate the rest of stranded Indians from abroad.

At this time of corona crisis, the scheduled international passenger flights are still suspended in India since March 23. However, special international charter flights, permitted by DGCA, have been operating as usual.

(With inputs from PTI)