1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait 1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait The 1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait was carried out from August 13, 1990 to October 20, 1990 after the Invasion of Kuwait. Air India helped evacuate 175,000 people by civil airliners. The operation was carried out before the Persian Gulf War in 1990 to evacuate Indian expatriates from Kuwait. Following this operation Air India, the flag carrier Indian airline entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most people evacuated by a civil airliner. Mathunny Mathews, Harbajan Singh Vedi, Abey Varicad, V.K Warrier, Ali Hussain and few others based in Kuwait helped
Lockheed C-130 Hercules in Australian service that country. An operation to fly about 95 Australians and New Zealanders directly out of Iraq and Kuwait was also planned, but would have only been conducted as a last resort due to the great dangers involved. These evacuation flights were not required as Iraq did not invade Saudi Arabia, and the Australians in Iraq departed by road. A proposal to deploy some of the Hercules as part of Australia's contribution to the ensuing Gulf War was also rejected in late 1990 as the aircraft had to be held in reserve in case fighting on the Pacific island of Bougainville