Singapore to send 78 tonnes of Covid-relief materials to India by Air India, Blue dart flights

Indian High Commission here on Sunday said two Air India and one Blue Dart flights will send about 78 tonnes of cargo to India as part of the 1 million PPE kits being sourced from Singapore-based company.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep S Puri had said on April 15 that domestic cargo operators, including SpiceJet, Blue Dart and Indigo are operating cargo flights on "a commercial basis while they also carry Lifeline Udan cargo". "Spice Jet: 230 flights, 2765 tons, Blue Dart: 108 flights, 1709 tons, and IndiGo: 25 flights, 21.77 tons," the minister added.

'Lifeline Udaan' is the central government's arrangement for operating medical cargo lifelines for the countries facing coronavirus crisis.

"The total cargo transported by these flights is around 240 tons during COVID-19 lockdown. 161 flights have been operated under Lifeline UDAN to date covering 1,41,080 Kms. Out of these, 99 flights were operated by Air India and Alliance Air while 54 were operated by the Indian Air Force," the aviation ministry said.

With 1,990 more COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's count of coronavirus cases has reached 26,496, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

( With inputs from ANI )