Delhi Airport designated as major hub for import, distribution of COVID-19 related medical essentials

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has designated the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi as a major hub for import and distribution of COVID-19 related medical essentials, GMR Group said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the statement, a 3,800 square meter unique dedicated distribution facility has been made operational at Delhi Airport by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

"This facility performs logistics, aggregation, and distribution of large consignments of Medical supplies, which are being imported to India. At this facility, the first shipment comprising of 24 MT cargo arrived on 21st April 2020 having 70,000 protective suits," the statement said.

It said that ever since the pandemic started, the Delhi Airport has been providing logistics support to handle, process, and facilitate the distribution of such consignments across the country.

"Several such consignments are scheduled to flow in and get processed through the Airport in the coming days including bodysuits, face mask, gloves, goggles, etc," the statement said.

"So far over 20 lakh pieces of face masks, 2 lakh bottles of stizers, 70,000 bodysuits, 1.5 lakh PPE kits and 50,000 other medical equipment have been channelized across India through Delhi Airport," it added.

It said that the continued support from all stakeholders has resulted in the clearance of more than 1,800 MT of import cargo from the cargo terminals during the last weeks.

DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said, "We are honored to be designated as the major hub for import and distribution of medical essentials at this time of crisis by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Even during the lockdown, Delhi Airport is functioning 24X7 to handle the International and domestic cargo movements for essential commodities."

Delhi Airport has been handling around 20-22 cargo flights, with freighters operating between various destinations like Doha, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Incheon, etc and around 3-4 chartered aircraft movements per day for handling medical equipment and relief material to and from destinations like Patna, Varanasi, Guwahati, Nagpur, and Vadodra.

( With inputs from ANI )