Vande Bharat Mission, Phase 3: Air India Faces High Demand, To Offer More Seats

Picture courtesy Twitter

New Delhi: Air India announced on Saturday that they will offer more seats on flights under the third phase of the Union Government’s Vande Bharat Mission, to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

There was an “overwhelming” demand for tickets after Air India on Friday opened bookings for 300 flights from multiple destinations, including the US and the UK, between June 10 and July 1.

The national carrier informed that between 5 pm on Friday and 8 am on Saturday, there was “6-7 times more activity” on their website, with over 22,000 seats being sold.

“Demand for seats from India on flights planned under Mission Vande Bharat-3 is overwhelming. Sectors/flights are being opened in systematic manner for booking, on the website,” Air India tweeted. “Sale of tickets commenced at 5 pm yesterday for select destinations in USA, Canada, UK & Europe under Phase 3 of #VBM. Our website experienced 6-7 times more activity & over 22000 seats have been sold overall till 8 am. More seats to more destinations will be added in due course.”

There were 6 crore hits on Air India’s website during the first two hours of opening of bookings, PTI reported.

The first phase of Vande Bharat Mission started on May 7 and the second phase was from May 16.

Also Read: Vande Bharat Mission To Evacuate Stranded Indians Begins Today

Also Read: Vande Bharat Mission Phase 2: 30,000 Indians To Be Evacuated From 31 Countries