As the Russian troops advance in Ukraine, the Indian government has stated that it will do whatever possible to bring back all its citizens stranded in the war-torn nation.
Following the closure of Ukrainian airspace, India is facilitating the evacuation of stranded Indians from Ukraine through its land border crossings with Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
In view of this, Air India is ferrying hundreds of people, with the fourth evacuation flight carrying 198 passengers leaving the Romanian capital Bucharest left for India on Sunday.
The first evacuation flight carrying 219 Indians from Bucharest landed in Mumbai on Saturday evening.
The second flight with 250 nationals arrived in Delhi in the early hours of Sunday.
The third Air India flight with around 240 Indians had also left for Delhi from Hungarian capital Budapest.
India has named the evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga'.
But what is the cost incurred by the government for the evacuation efforts?
According to news agency PTI, airline sources say that the cost of operating a two-way evacuation flight will be more than ₹1.10 crore and the amount will go up depending on the duration of the flights.
The total cost will include expenses related to crew, fuel, navigation, landing and parking charges.
Air India is operating the services with a wide-body Boeing 787 plane.
The cost of operating a chartered flight with the Dreamliner is around ₹7 to 8 lakh per hour and the total amount will depend "on where we are going and how far we are going", a source was quoted as saying.
According to pilots who fly Dreamliners, the aircraft on average consumes five tonnes of fuel per hour.
Considering that these flights are for a relatively long duration, there will be two sets of crew onboard. The crew that operates the first leg of the flight will take a rest in the return leg and will be replaced by another set of crew.
The estimated figure has been calculated under the assumption that the overall duration of the to and fro flight is around 14 hours. The expenses will shoot up in case the duration is longer.
The government is not charging people for the evacuation flights. Some state governments have also announced that they will bear the expenses of people from their respective states who are returning from Ukraine.
On 24 February, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that around 16,000 Indians, mainly students, were stranded in Ukraine, which is now engaged in an intense battle with Russia.
Since then, over 900 Indians have returned and there would be now around 15,000 Indians in Ukraine and its border areas.
With inputs from agencies.
