First ever Russian flight carries 50 tonnes of medicines from Hyderabad to Moscow

Recently, Hyderabad airport handled Ethiopian Freighter, a first direct flight connecting Hyderabad to Africa.

A first-ever commercial cargo flight from Russia airlifted 50 tonnes of pharmaceuticals, including medicines and vaccines from Hyderabad to Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday.

Russian cargo flight Aeroflot carrying medicines from Hyderabad to Moscow

The freight aircraft of Aeroflot Airlines, the largest airline of the Russian Federation, landed in Hyderabad International Airport at 11.17 am on Tuesday and departed with the cargo at 12.03 am on Wednesday.

An official spokesman of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited said this was the first time that a commercial B-777 passenger to cargo flight landed at the Hyderabad airport to take pharmaceuticals to Moscow.

“It carried a full load of 50 tonnes of pharmaceuticals, including 20 different types of medicines and vaccines. This was a one of its kind wide body ‘P-to-C’ cargo flight movement for Hyderabad,” the spokesman said.

Currently, the service of Aeroflot freighter is limited due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Hyderabad International Airport is planning to have a regular weekly frequency of this freighter, which if works out, will enable a direct connectivity of Hyderabad to Russia and other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries.

The spokesman said the CIS countries have a major demand for pharmaceuticals and this freighter can open up a direct gateway to the CIS countries. This sector also has a demand for aerospace, engineering and general cargo.

“During the Covid-19 lockdown, Hyderabad Air Cargo has handled all kinds of goods including essential and perishable products along with majorly Covid-19 relief material, pharmaceuticals, engineering, IT, aerospace, perishables and console cargo. During this period from the commencement of lockdown till date, the airport has handled approximately 5,500 tonnes of cargo,” the spokesman added.