An Air India flight carried hundreds of people out of Ukraine ahead of a full-scale invasion launched by Russia in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Air India flight AI 1946 returned from Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on Tuesday evening with around 242 passengers on board and landed safely in New Delhi, according to the Indian Express. Many of the passengers on board were students returning home after the Indian Embassy advised them to vacate the country.
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AIRLINE KICKS WOMAN OFF PLANE OVER ALLERGY TO FIRST-CLASS PEANUTS
Another Air India flight, AI 1947, left Delhi on Thursday morning to make its way to Kyiv, but it was told to return home, as Ukrainian airspace had been closed to commercial flights, according to the Tribune.
Ukrainian officials enacted a notice to airmen, or NOTAM, under which air travel was “restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation.”
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In the weeks that proceeded the attack on Ukraine, several airlines announced they would be halting or redirecting flights to the country. Dutch airline KLM said Feb. 12 that it would no longer be conducting flights to Ukraine, while the Ukrainian airline SkyUp said a flight intended for Kyiv would be diverted to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Air India for a statement but did not receive a response.
