Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has said that it will operate a special flight to the Hungarian capital Budapest on Friday to evacuate Indians who have been stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive.
The airline said it will use its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for this special flight that will depart from Delhi on Monday evening.
“The aircraft will fly to Budapest from Delhi and the return fight will operate via Kutaisi, Georgia," it mentioned.
SpiceJet said it is planning to operate more evacuation flights and is in discussion with the authorities concerned.
The country's largest carrier IndiGo also said on Monday that is operating two evacuation flights to bring back stranded Indians from Ukraine.
“IndiGo is operating two evacuation flights using A321 aircraft to bring back Indians safely. These flights are being operated from Delhi to Bucharest, Romania and Budapest, Hungary via Istanbul, today as part of the government of India’s Operation Ganga mission," said Indigo.
Further, it added that the airline is closely liaising with the government to offer its support for more such flights.
This comes as the sixth flight carrying 240 stranded Indian nationals departed from Hungary's Budapest for Delhi earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that India plans to send four senior ministers to Ukraine's border nations to help in the rescue of thousands of its citizens.
Ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh will travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation, according to a government source.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met senior officials on Monday to discuss evacuation efforts, amid rising concerns back home about the safety of some 16,000 Indians still in Ukraine, most of them students.
Indians make up about a quarter of the 76,000 foreign students studying in Ukraine, mainly on medical courses, according to official estimates.
