COVID-19: Amid lockdown, Air India flies foreign nationals to Frankfurt in five flights

Out of them, four flights took off for Frankfurt from Mumbai and one from New Delhi, the spokesperson said.

Hyderabad Airport employees wearing masks wait for the boarding of German nationals who were stranded at various places due to the coronavirus lockdown in a special relief flight for Mumbai at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad Tuesday March

MUMBAI: Air India on Tuesday operated five chartered flights to Frankfurt carrying foreign nationals, mostly Germans, who were stranded in the country due to the nationwide lockdown, according to an airline spokesperson.

The five flights were operated with Mumbai and Delhi as the two hubs.

Out of them, four flights took off for Frankfurt from Mumbai and one from New Delhi, the spokesperson said.

The four flights operated from Mumbai picked up foreign nationals from Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

People were also ferried from Mumbai.

The fifth flight picked up people from the national capital and Kolkata before flying to Frankfurt.

All the five services were operated with Air India's 256-seater Boeing 787-800 (Dreamliner) planes, the spokesperson said.

"Rescue flight @airindiain 1570 from #Chennai to #Frankfurt operated with 160 stranded passengers on board, today.

All precautions taken and facilities provided to ensure smooth travel amid #COVID19 restrictions," Chennai airport said in a tweet.

The country is under a 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb spreading of coronavirus infections.