Total 248 tons of cargo transported by Lifeline UDAN during lockdown

167 flights have been operated under Lifeline UDAN to date covering 1,50,006 Kms.

During the Covid-19 lockdown period, essential medical supplies including consignments of ICMR, HLL, and others are continuously being delivered across the country. Domestic public and private airline operators such as Air India, IAF, Pawan Hans, Indigo and Blue Dart transport medicines, ICMR consignments, HLL consignments, and other essential supplies to Srinagar, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and other regions of the country on 8th April 2020. Ministry of Civil Aviation is also coordinating for delivery of cargo of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Textiles, Department of Posts, etc. so that the collective purpose of making the essential medical supplies to people in all parts of the country is served. Further, due safety protocols are followed at every stage - from the collection of cargo to the entire process of transportation until delivery at the destination.

Total cargo transported by Lifeline UDAN flights is around 248 Tons tons during the Covid-19 lockdown. 167 flights have been operated under Lifeline UDAN to date covering 1,50,006 Kms.

Air India and IAF collaborated primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and other island regions.

Air India lifted 3.76 tons of supplies to Colombo on 8 April 2020. Air India will be operating dedicated scheduled cargo flights to other countries for the uplifting of critical medical equipment as per the requirement.

Domestic Cargo Operators; Blue Dart, Spicejet, and Indigo are operating cargo flights on a commercial basis. Spicejet operated 220 cargo flights from 24 March – 8 April 2020 covering a distance of 2,99,775Kms and carrying 1805.6Tons of cargo. Out of these 61 were international cargo flights. Blue Dart operated 70 domestic cargo flights covering a distance of 67,273Kms and carrying 1,075 Tons of cargo from 25 March – 8 April 2020.

Indigo has also operated 15 cargo flights on 3 – 8 April 2020 covering a distance of 12,206Kms and carrying 4.37 tons of cargo.

(With Inputs from PIB)