JOIN USCentre designates Delhi Airport as major hub for COVID-19 supplies
The Centre has designated Delhi Airport as a major hub for import and distribution of medical supplies to combat Covid-19.
The airport has been handling 20-22 cargo flights daily and has created a dedicated distribution facility to handle logistics, aggregation and distribution of large consignments of medical supplies, which are being imported to India.
So far, over 20 lakh pieces of face masks, 2 lakh bottles of sanitizers, 70,000 bodysuits, 1.5 lakh PPE kits and 50,000 other medical equipment have been channelized across India through Delhi Airport.
With the support of Indian Customs and CISF, Delhi Airport has also created an arrangement to hold the Import cargo ULDs (unit load device) in the vacant Export zones by using ETVs (elevating transfer vehicles) which helps utilize the Export bonded area for storage of up to 152 ULD shipments of Import cargo while ensuring necessary separation, much in line with international best practices.
“Even during the lockdown, Delhi Airport is functioning 24x7 to handle the international and domestic cargo movements for essential commodities including healthcare and medical supplies,” Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, Delhi International Airport Limited said in a statement.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the ministry has operated 339 cargo flights so far, transporting 587 tons of medical and essential cargo under ‘Lifeline Udan’.
Delhi Airport has been handling around 20-22 cargo flights per day with freighters operating between various destinations like Doha, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Incheon, among others.
In addition to the cargo flights, Delhi Airport has also been handling three-four chartered aircraft movements per day for handling medical equipment & relief material to and from various destinations like Patna, Varanasi, Guwahati, Nagpur, Vadodara.
The Cargo Terminals of Delhi Airport has the capacity to handle over 1.8 million MT of cargo annually, which is scalable to 2.3 million MT. It has 12 dedicated freighter parking bays.