Coronavirus Outbreak: Sonu Sood funds chartered flight to help fly 173 migrant workers from Mumbai to Dehradun

Bollywood actor Sonu Sood has funded another chartered flight to help fly over 170 migrant workers to Dehradun in Uttrakhand from the city, in an aircraft operated by budget airline AirAsia India.

The Airbus A320 plane with 173 migrants onboard left from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) at around 1.57 pm, an AirAsia India spokesperson told Press Trust of India.

It landed at the Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun at 4:41 pm, the spokesperson said.

“As another charter flight takes flight today, our efforts to help migrant workers stranded in various parts of the country have only grown stronger.

“Most of them have never had the opportunity to experience air travel, and the smiles on their faces brings me a lot of joy as they take this AirAsia India flight to reach home to their families and friends,” said Sood.

The Bollywood actor also said he was looking forward to more such flights in the near future.

Sood had last week arranged a special chartered flight for 177 migrant workers stuck in Kerala to help them reach their homes in Odisha.

Anup Manjeshwar, head of sales and distribution, AirAsia India said “with UmeedKiUdaan (charter flights for migrants) our efforts are aimed at uniting stranded migrant workers with their families, as the nation battles the pandemic.”

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The plight of migrant workers during this crisis has been heartbreaking, he said, adding Sood has been a pillar of strength in these testing times and has come forward to support airlifting stranded migrants from Mumbai to Dehradun with the airline’s charter flights.

“The resounding response that we received nationwide for this initiative, taking migrant workers home from Mumbai, Imphal, Guwahati and Kochi is a catalyst motivating us to do even more,” he said.

“This is the sixth charter flight we have undertaken with more on the horizon and we look forward to working with other like-minded individuals and organisations keen on supporting migrant communities,” Manjeshwar added.