By IANS,
New Delhi: National carrier Air India will bring back 380 more Indians from quake-hit Japan by Saturday night, a senior official said here.
“Around 380 passengers will be brought back from Narita, Tokyo, by 7 p.m. tonight (Saturday),” a senior Air India official told IANS.
According to the official, with the latest flight, the airline would have brought back around 1,900 Indians from Japan since the island country was hit by a massive earthquake and a devastating tsunami last week. Nearly 25,000 live in Japan, mostly in and around Tokyo.
Air India has decided to ply bigger planes March 16-21, and has deployed Boeing 747-400 Jumbo jets which can accommodate 423 passengers each.
“The increased capacity flights would operate on Boeing 747-400 Jumbo jet which can seat 423 passengers. The Jumbo jet is replacing Boeing-777s which could only carry around 300 passengers,” the company said.
In addition to four flights a week to Narita, Air India also has three flights a week to Osaka.
In view of the natural disaster that struck the country, the airline has also decided to waive all penalties for re-booking, cancellations and refunds on all types of tickets for travel to and from Japan up to March 31.
Meanwhile, India has sent around 25 tonnes of relief material to disaster-hit country through two Air India special flights. The cargo included two consignments of 10,000 high quality blankets sent on each of the flights Tuesday and Wednesday.
Many Indian companies have also ordered its staff to be evecuated from Japan.
Japan was hit by a 9-magnitude earthquake March 11 that triggered a devastating tsunami. Three nuclear reactors have been damaged, escalating fears of a nuclear meltdown and radiation.