Air India flight carrying second batch of Indians evacuated from Wuhan to land in Delhi today

An Air India special flight carrying the second batch of Indians evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, will land in New Delhi on Sunday morning, national carrier's spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said.

The flight took off from Wuhan at 3:10 am (IST) and is expected to land in New Delhi at 9:20 am, Kumar said.

"Second Air India special flight from Wuhan departed at 0540 hours, i.e. 0310 (IST). The flight time is six hours. It is expected to land in Delhi by 0920 hours Indian time," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador to China, Vikram Misri tweeted on Sunday that the flight carries 323 Indian citizens on board, while 7 Maldives citizens "are also being evacuated".

"The 2nd #AirIndia flight from #Wuhan has just taken off for #Delhi with 323 Indian citizens on board. 7 Maldives citizens are also being evacuated. Grateful once again to @MFA_China and local authorities all across #Hubei for their assistance," Misri tweeted.

Earlier, Kumar had said that the team of doctors on the aircraft would be the same as on the first, while the crew has changed, adding that the flight operation would still be led by Air India's Director of Operations Captain Amitabh Singh.

The flight carrying the first batch of Indians had landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Saturday. Of the 324 passengers, three were minors and 211 were students.

The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world.

Several countries including India have sped up the evacuation process after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health crisis.