The Vande Bharat Mission’s last repatriation flight from Auckland to New Delhi has taken off from the Auckland Airport today at 6:30 p.m.

The last of the nine flights under the Indian government’s Vande Bharat Mission to bring back its nationals stranded overseas flew from Auckland with 50+ passengers and will land in New Delhi on Saturday, July 4 at 4 a.m. (India time).

A total of nine flights flew from Auckland in New Zealand to seven different destinations in India, namely, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad and Mumbai with its maiden flight on June 5 last month.

The Vande Bharat Mission led direct Air India flights have ferried more than 1600 Indian nationals from New Zealand to India who were stranded in the country due to global travel restrictions amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Notably, the last flight that flew today was reportedly cancelled previous week due to shortage of enough interest forcing the Indian High Commission to urge any stranded Indian citizens here to avail the facility of the eighth flight leaving on July 1, but it was later reinstated on Wednesday, July 1.

The High Commission of India while confirming the last flight earlier this week said that there would be no more repatriation flights from New Zealand to India in the near future. 

“There will be no more flights [Vande Bharat Mission led Air India from New Zealand to India] in the foreseeable future as international travel restriction continues to exist in almost every country in the world,” Hon Consul of India in Auckland, Bhav Dhillon told The Indian Weekender.

All the passengers travelling back to India will need to go into seven days institutional quarantine in and around New Delhi and thereafter, home quarantine for another seven days. Senior citizens may be exempted by State Coordinators who would contact you upon arrival.