Delhi airport designated hub for distribution of Covid-19 essentials

More than 20 lakh face masks, at least two lakh bottles of sanitizers, 70,000 bodysuits, 1.5 lakh Personal Protective Equipment kits and over 50,000 pieces of other

More than 20 lakh face masks, at least two lakh bottles of sanitizers, 70,000 bodysuits, 1.5 lakh Personal Protective Equipment kits and over 50,000 pieces of other medical equipment required to combat the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, have so far been channelised across India through the Delhi airport.

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The airport operator on Thursday said that the ministry of civil aviation has designated Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport as a major hub for the import and distribution of Covid-19 medical essentials.

Even as flight operations were suspended in the country March 25 onwards, relief flights, cargo flights and Air Force flights are operational.

The airport operator, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), said in a statement on Thursday that they have built a unique dedicated distribution facility at the cargo terminal for the logistics, aggregation and distribution of large consignments of medical supplies imported by India.

“The Delhi airport has been handling cargo flights and chartered aircraft movements every day for the timely and smooth supply of medical equipment and relief material to and from Delhi to various destinations like Patna, Varanasi, Guwahati, Nagpur, Vadodra, etc. The air cargo terminal at the IGI airport has been operating round the clock to support the country in handling and processing essential commodities, especially healthcare and medical supplies,” DIAL said in a statement.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL, said the ministry of civil aviation has designated the IGI airport as a major hub for import and distribution of medical essentials. “Even during the lockdown, the Delhi airport is functioning 24x7 to handle international and domestic cargo movements,” the CEO said.