Vande Bharat Mission flights between Australia and India announced for January

In January 2021, five flights will be available from India to Australia, and six flights from Australia to India.

An Airbus A321-211 of Indian carrier Air India approaches for landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, in Mumbai, India, 18 January 2020. Source: EPA/DIVYAKANT SOLANKI

Highlights:

Air India has announced new flights between India and Australia.
A total of five flights will be available from Sydney to Delhi.
India has opened its borders for OCI, PIO cardholders

India's national carrier Air India has announced new flights between India and Australia under phase seven of the Vande Bharat Mission, an initiative by the Indian government to bring its citizens back from different parts of the world.

Here is the schedule (subject to change):

Delhi to Sydney

207 03-Jan-21 AI 0302 DELHI 01:35 SYDNEY 20:00 03-Jan-21
207 10-Jan-21 AI 0302 DELHI 01:35 SYDNEY 20:00 10-Jan-21
223 17-Jan-21 AI 0302 DELHI 01:35 SYDNEY 20:00 17-Jan-21
241 24-Jan-21 AI 0302 DELHI 01:35 SYDNEY 20:00 24-Jan-21
256 31-Jan-21 AI 0302 DELHI 01:35 SYDNEY 20:00 31-Jan-21

Sydney to Delhi

01-Jan-21 AI 0301 SYDNEY 10:15 DELHI 18:05 01-Jan-21
04-Jan-21 AI 0301 SYDNEY 20:30 DELHI 04:10 05-Jan-21
11-Jan-21 AI 0301 SYDNEY 20:30 DELHI 04:10 12-Jan-21
18-Jan-21 AI 0301 SYDNEY 20:30 DELHI 04:10 19-Jan-21
25-Jan-21 AI 0301 SYDNEY 20:30 DELHI 04:10 26-Jan-21
01-Feb-21 AI 0301 SYDNEY 20:30 DELHI 04:10 02-Feb-21

Around 10,000 people are still stranded in India who are looking for opportunities to return home.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the government is working to bring more than 39,000 citizens back home from different parts of the world.

36,000 citizens and permanent residents of Australia have registered with DFAT to return home.

The hotel quarantine cap of 6,000 arrivals a week is still in place. This has led to strict rationing of tickets, and the prices of tickets for different flights have soared, leaving many unable to afford them.

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