Ukraine crisis | First Air India flight from Kyiv lands in Delhi

Ministry of Civil Aviation says more Indian airlines likely to start flights if there is demand

The first Air India flight from Kyiv landed in Delhi at 11.30 pm on Tuesday and brought back nearly 254 passengers.

Air India has three flights for Ukraine this week, out of which the first flight took off from New Delhi's International airport at 7.30 am on Tuesday. The airline operated a Boeing Dreamliner with 254 seats, which was fully occupied, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Air India has never before operated commercial flights to Ukraine. A flight each is also scheduled on February 24 and February 26.

"Other Indian operators are expected to start their flight services depending on the demand from Ukraine," a statement from the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

In an advisory, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv earlier shared that the Ukraine International Airlines will mount four flights- one each on February 25, and March 6 and two flights on February 27.

In a statement, UIA said that two more flights were in the pipelines and that it was working the Ministry of External Affairs and the DGCA to ensure that "additional flights can be added on an urgent basis".

"We are committed to providing our best support to Indian travellers wanting to return urgently because of the latest advisories. We are assessing the situation daily and doing everything to ensure we prioritise the safety of our passengers," Sergey Fomenka, Executive Vice President for Commerce at UIA said.