A special Air India flight carrying 46 Indian nurses freed by Sunni militants in strife-torn Iraq and 137 others landed in Mumbai and is scheduled to arrive in Kochi around noon on Saturday, a top airport official said.
The flight carrying 183 Indian nationals from Erbil landed in Mumbai at 8:43am, according to an airport official. After some passengers deboard, it will arrive in Kochi around 11.55am, Cochin International Airport director AKC Nair told PTI.
The flight made a 'technical halt' in Mumbai for refuelling and catering supplies.
The flight left Erbil for India at around 4.30am IST, he said.
From Kochi, the flight will proceed to Hyderabad and then Delhi, he said.
Besides the nurses, the plane is also carrying 137 other Indian nationals, including 70 from Kirkuk in the northern part of Iraq.
The ordeal of the nurses, who were working at a hospital in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, began when a swift Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) offensive was launched on June 9.
The nurses were moved out on Thursday against their will and detained in the militant-held city of Mosul, 250 km from Tikrit.
The Erbil International airport is about 80 km from Mosul.
A joint-secretary level IFS officer and a female IAS officer from Kerala are among the Indian officials travelling on the chartered flight.
Air India spokesperson in Kochi said there are 183 passengers, including 23 crew members and three government officials, onboard the flight.
The flight will make a 'technical halt' in Mumbai for refuelling and catering supplies.
