North 24 Parganas (India) correspondent: Defence secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered 6 commercial airlines to provide passenger jets to help with the growing US military operation evacuating Americans and Afghan allies from Kabul, the Pentagon said on Sunday.
Austin revoked the Stage 1 of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet created in 1952 after the Berlin airlift. It will allow 18 airlines to ferry people from Afghanistan. The current activation is for 18 planes: four from United Airlines, three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air, and two from Hawaiian Airlines.
Civilian aircrafts will not fly into Kabul for evacuation. Instead they will ferry those who are arriving at US Bases in Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. From the bases in West Asia, the airliners would augment military flights carrying Afghans to Germany, Italy, Spain and other stops in Europe, and then ultimately to the United States for many of the Afghans, officials said.
News is being sent by BTC News (Bangladesh) North 24 Parganas (India) correspondent, Tathyik Bhattacharya. #
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