India’s leading budget carrier Air India Express operated its first international flight from the country with a fully vaccinated crew on June 18, on the Delhi–Dubai sector.
The pilots and the cabin crew of IX 191, which took off from Delhi at 10:40 am, have received both doses of their Covid-19 vaccine. Capt. D R Gupta and Capt. Alok Kumar Nayak, captained the flight with cabin crew members Venkat Kella, Praveen Chandra, Pravin Chougle and Manisha Kamble. The same crew are operating the return flight IX 196, on the Dubai-Jaipur-Delhi sector.
"We have vaccinated almost all eligible crew members and frontline staff not only to ensure their safety and health but also to make our passengers feel safe and reassured as they fly with us, " said the airline in a statement.
“As we operate the country's first international flight with fully-vaccinated crew, it may be recalled that it was Air India Express that operated India's first-ever Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flight which touched down Indian soil on 7th May 2020 carrying passengers from Abu Dhabi. We are happy that now our teams are shielded with the protection of the vaccines,” the statement added.