National carrier Air India is all set to operate the first ‘special ferry’ flight from New Delhi to Singapore on Thursday, under India’s massive ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ to bring back its stranded citizens from abroad amidst the Coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Air India’s flight to Singapore, which has been scheduled to leave from Delhi at 11.15 pm today is the first of 64 repatriation flights between May 7 and May 13 to bring nearly 15,000 Indian nationals from 12 countries.

The ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ is the biggest evacuation exercise in world history.

Following the laid-down Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) which were released on Tuesday, the airline has tested its pilots and crews for COVID-19 and is expecting their reports by Thursday afternoon.

The aircraft has been readied and Air India has also taken care of all other logistical aspects to embark on this mission.

However, it was Air India’s Delhi to San Francisco flight that was supposed to take off first for the grand mission at 3.30 am on Wednesday. The second flight was scheduled to depart at 6.30 am on Wednesday from Mumbai to London

But the repatriation flights could not be operated on Wednesday as the crew members’ COVID-19 tests were not done on time, senior airline officials were quoted as saying by PTI.

While the flight to London is now scheduled to leave from Mumbai at 6.30 am on Friday, the flight to San Francisco will leave at 3.30 am on Friday.

The COVID-19 tests for pilots and cabin crew members were not done on time and as a result, both the flights were postponed by 48 hours, officials said.

Meanwhile, other flights, which were scheduled for Thursday, have also been postponed to Friday, making the Delhi-Singapore aircraft the only one to be operated today.

Earlier on Tuesday, it was reported that 10 flights would bring back 2,300 Indians on Day 1.

Overall, more than 190,000 Indian nationals, who would have to pay a one-way ferry service charge, are expected to be brought back in the airlift operation that might last couple of weeks or even more.

These special flights would be operated by Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express to repatriate Indians from 12 countries — the UAE, the UK, the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also kept ready about 30 transport aircraft, including C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Super Hercules, to join the evacuation exercise, if the need arises.

The Government is also deploying a raft of Indian naval ships to undertake the massive exercise.

The huge operation is being carried out in close coordination by several ministries – External Affairs, Defence, Home Affairs and Civil aviation– and various state governments.

On Tuesday, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs stated that a person who has an OCI card, or held the citizenship of a foreign country, or held a valid visa of more than one year of that country, or had the green card of that country, can travel on the repatriation flight leaving India under the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’.

Each flight will have between 200 and 300 passengers, depending upon the aircraft, to ensure that social distancing is maintained. Before boarding the special flights, the passengers need to declare whether they have fever, cough, diabetes or any respiratory disease.

The government has stated that only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel.

India has been under lockdown since 25 March to curb the spread of the coronavirus and it will continue till 17 May. All commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period.

Meanwhile, a total of 14 warships have been readied for evacuating Indian citizens from Gulf and other countries amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, said Indian Navy officials on Tuesday.

The Indian Navy said it had launched “Operation Samudra Setu” (Sea Bridge) to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas. Indian naval ships ‘INS Jalashwa’ and ‘INS Magar’ were en route to the Maldives to commence the first phase of the operation.

The Government had on Monday said it will facilitate the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds in a phased manner from May 7.

Around four lakh Indians in the Gulf region have registered with the Indian missions to return to India. They include those who have either lost their jobs due to the global lockdown and those whose contracts were over or those who have no jobs. Also, there were women who were pregnant. Preference would be given to those who have ‘compelling reason’ to return home, sources said.