New Delhi [India], April 7 : Over 184 tons of medical supplies have been delivered during the lockdown period, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has said.
"With support from Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private airlines, medical supplies of more than 184 tons have been delivered till date during lockdown period," said the ministry in a statement.
The statement, dated April 6, further said that under the Lifeline UDAN initiative of MoCA, 132 cargo flights have been operated till date across the country to transport medical cargo to various parts of India including remote and hilly areas.
The country is under 21-day lockdown which was imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus and stop its transmission.
"An air bridge between Shanghai and Delhi has been established. First cargo flight of Air India operated on 4 April 2020 and has brought 21 tons of medical equipment. Air India will be operating dedicated scheduled cargo flights to China for uplifting of critical medical equipment as per the requirement," adds the statement.
The ministry informed that the domestic cargo operators -- BlueDart, SpiceJet and IndiGo are operating cargo flights on commercial basis. SpiceJet operated 174 cargo flights from 24 March to 5 April 2020 carrying 1382.94 tons of cargo.
Out of these 49 were international cargo flights. Blue Dart operated 52 domestic cargo flights carrying 760.73 tons of cargo from 25 March-4 April 2020.
Indigo has also operated 8 cargo flights on 3-4 April 2020 covering a distance of 6,103 km and carrying 3.14 tons of cargo.
( With inputs from ANI )