JOIN USMedical equipment, drugs, perishables fly in and out of KIA
Despite the shutdown of commercial operations, critical medical equipment and perishables are being transported by air to and from the city’s Kempegowda International Airport. Air cargo flights, both international and domestic, have continued to operate daily, although the operations are based on requests/or as the need arises from various airlines.
The cargo operations are in addition to a few evacuation flights that have gone out on the basis of requests from consulates and embassies. These are subject to approvals by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), according to the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL).
The DGCA had earlier extended the suspension of scheduled passenger, charter and private aircraft flight operations till 11.59 pm on April 14, 2020. However, all cargo, medical evacuation and special flights approved by the directorate were allowed to operate in the civilian space.
Airport sources said about 10 to 15 cargo flights are being operated from KIA daily. Many of these in operation now are passenger flights carrying belly cargo, each laden with about six to seven tons of material such as medical boxes. DGCA had allowed airlines to operate passenger planes that were otherwise lying idle.
International airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, too, have adopted this strategy. However, they are operating bigger, wide-bodied aircraft with capacities of 24-25 tons.
Emirates said it is operating its entire SkyCargo fleet of freighters and Boeing 777 passenger aircraft to ensure that the world does not run out of essential goods, including food and medical supplies. The surge in online orders through e-commerce platforms and shortage in supply is what drove this decision, the airline maintained.
The airline informed that SkyCargo ferried over 110 tons of medical and food supplies to Bengaluru and Mumbai from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Incheon, Chicago, Seattle, Zurich, Sweden and Dubai. It also uplifted over 41 tons of cargo, including medical equipment and perishables, from Bengaluru to Dubai, Kuwait, Muscat and Amsterdam last week.
In the international sector, 12 cargo airlines operate from KIA to different destinations worldwide. In 2018-19, the airport handled 386,780 million tons of cargo. Domestic cargo accounted for 1,44,130 MT and international 2,42,650 MT. Among the cargo carriers operating from KIA are also BlueDart Aviation, DHL Aviation, Qatar Airways Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo, SpiceXpress, Ethihad Cargo, FedEx Express and Cathay Pacific Cargo.