New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) National carrier Air India will bring back 383 more Indians from quake-hit Japan by Thursday night, a senior official here said.

"Around 383 passengers will be brought back from Narita, Tokyo, by 9 p.m. tonight," a senior Air India official told IANS.

According to the official, with the latest flight, the flag carrier would have brought back around 1,600 Indians from Japan since the island country was hit by a massive earthquake and a devastating tsunami last week.

Earlier, Air India in a special move decided to increase its passenger capacity to bring back more Indians from Japan, March 16 to 19, by deploying Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets which can accommodate 423 passengers each.

"The increased capacity flights would operate on Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet which can seat 423 passengers. The jumbo jet is replacing Boeing 777s which could only carry around 300 passengers," the company said.

In addition to four flights per week to Narita, Air India also has three flights a week to Osaka, which continue to operate as per schedule.

In view of the natural disaster which struck the country, the airline has also decided to waive all penalties for re-booking, cancellations and refunds on all types of tickets for travel to and from Japan up to March 31.