US likely spent over $1 million to deport 104 Indian migrants on military's C-17 flight
The recent deportation of 104 Indian immigrants by the US likely cost around $1 million, as military flights are more expensive than civilian options.
The recent deportation of 104 illegal Indian immigrants by the United States likely cost the country around $1 million for the flight used in the process, new agency AFP reported. Data suggests that military flights can be over three times more expensive than civilian flights.
The Donald Trump administration has started using military aircraft for deportations, signalling its commitment to removing undocumented migrants.
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Donald Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to execute the largest deportation operation in US history, has primarily focused on migrants from Latin America, but some are also being sent back to distant countries.
On Wednesday, a US Air Force cargo plane landed in Amritsar, India, carrying 104 Indian nationals who had entered the US illegally. This flight is believed to be the first instance of a military aircraft being used for deportation to India.
Images captured indicate that the plane used was a C-17A Globemaster III, a large military aircraft designed for transporting troops, vehicles, and supplies.
The Globemaster III, a key asset of the US Air Force, has been in service since 1995 and has been deployed in various military operations worldwide.
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Why are military flights more expensive than civilian flights?
Military flights are much more expensive to operate than the charter flights that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also uses for deportations. As per ICE data from 2021, the cost of a charter flight is $8,577 (about ₹7.50 lakh) per flight hour, though transporting high-risk migrants may increase costs.
In contrast, using a C-17 military aircraft for transport operations costs $28,562 (around ₹24.98 lakh) per hour, according to documents from the US Air Mobility Command cited by AFP.
Unlike commercial planes, military flights follow different routes due to airspace sensitivities in other countries and refuel at military bases instead of civilian airports.
Data from Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site, shows that the deportation flight took off from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, at 1330 GMT on Monday. The plane then flew west to Hawaii, crossed the Pacific Ocean, navigated through the Luzon Strait near the Philippines, passed between Indonesia and Malaysia, and took a detour south into the Indian Ocean, stopping at the US air base on Diego Garcia, a remote island.
From Diego Garcia, it flew thousands of miles north to Punjab in India landing on Wednesday afternoon, more than 43 hours after departing from California.
Factoring in the return journey, even a conservative estimate suggests the flight cost exceeded $1 million, meaning each detainee's transport costs over $10,000 ( ₹8.74 lakh).
In contrast, a one-way commercial flight from San Francisco to New Delhi costs approximately $500 ( ₹43,734) in economy class and around $4,000 ( ₹3.5 lakh) in business class.