Air India special flight to Chennai with 158 Indians takes off from Dhaka

Air India flight to Chennai with 158 Indians on-board took off from Dhaka on Thursday.

"With the take off of @airindiain to #Chennai with 158 Indian Citizens, Phase 1 of #VandeBharatMission from #Dhaka has been accomplished. We thank #TeamIndia & all our citizens for cooperating with us," the High Commission of India in Bangladesh said in a tweet.

The flight to Tamil Nadu's Chennai, took off at 11:20 AM.

A passenger Ravi said: "Kudos to Indian embassy and the people working here. They have done a remarkable job."

Meanwhile, a passenger who will board the repatriation flight from San Francisco to Delhi lauded the Indian government for the intiative.

"I would like to give a big shout out to all the officials who have been working tirelessly day and night to bring us back. Thank you, PM Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar," the passenger who will board repatriation flight from San Francisco to Delhi said.

Under Vande Bharat Mission, India began phased repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad from May 7 amid lockdown.

( With inputs from ANI )