Air India's 423-seater jumbo B747 plane took off from the Delhi airport for Wuhan at around 1.20 pm on Friday to evacuate Indian nationals as China deals with the novel coronavirus outbreak, officials said.
There are five doctors from the Health Ministry and one paramedical staff onboard, they said, adding that around 400 Indians are expected to be evacuated.
"The plane did a pushback towards the runway at around 12.50 pm. It took off at around 1.20 pm on Friday. The departure got delayed a little from 12.30 pm scheduled time because of some pending clearances," said a senior airline official.
The plane has one paramedical staff onboard, he said, adding that the plane is likely to return between 1 am to 2 am on Saturday.
Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said on Friday morning, "No service will take place in the plane. Whatever food is there will be kept in seat pockets. As there will be no service, there will be no interaction (between cabin crew and passengers)."
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