Indian Airlines on Monday evacuated more than 550 stranded tourists from Port Blair in five Boeing 737 flights operated from Kolkata and Chennai.
A total of 593 passengers, who were stranded at Port Blair, which was devastated by the earthquake on Sunday, were flown to Kolkata and Chennai, an IA spokesman said in Mumbai.
Alliance Air operated three flights from Kolkata and two from Chennai and seven flights have been scheduled for Tuesday, five of which would be from Kolkata.
A report from Chennai said that an Indian Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft on Monday brought back 123 passengers from Port Blair. This was the first flight to the islands after they were devastated by tsunamis.
The flight left Chennai at 4.45 am on Monday for Port Blair with 16 passengers on board. A second flight left at 10.00 am carrying 13 passengers.
Meanwhile, a military aircraft carrying relief material also left from Chennai for Port Blair on Monday morning.
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