MUMBAI: Air India plans to operate nine relief flights to Frankfurt next week to ferry hundreds of expats stranded in the financial capital due to the lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak, a source said on Friday.

The source told PTI that the flights are likely to be operated between March 31 and April 3.

Frankfurt is the main aviation hub of Germany and has strong connectivity with various cities worldwide.

"We plan to operate as many as nine relief flights to Frankfurt from Mumbai to transport expats who are stuck in the city due to the ban on commercial flying," the source said.

While five flights may be operated on March 31, two services are planned for April 2.

One flight each is expected to operate on April 1 and April 3, respectively, the source added.

According to the source, Air India is expected to deploy Boeing 777 and 787-8 (Dreamliner) planes for the relief flights.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the national carrier has operated a series of rescue flights to bring back Indians stranded in various countries, including China (Wuhan), Italy (Milan and Rome) and Japan.

On Thursday, the airline operated a flight to Tel Aviv, Israel, to transport 300 Israelis from India.

India is under a 21-day lockdown as part of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus infections.

Lakhs of people have been infected by coronavirus and thousands of them have lost their lives worldwide.