1 / 10In order to help accredited organisations and hospitals amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, Vistara Airlines on Sunday offered the Ministry of Civil Aviation to fly doctors and nurses representing the government organisations, free of cost, across its domestic network.2 / 10In a letter to Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Vistara said the airlines will also welcome requests from accredited organisations representing the Centre and states in immediate need of air logistics.3 / 10We welcome requests from accredited organisations representing the Government of India and state governments/union territories. We will evaluate these to extend as much support as possible, based on the availability of cargo space,' Vistara said.4 / 10It noted that the handling of ground transport to and from the airport would need to be managed by the requesting organisation, and the airlines will not be able to honour ad-hoc requests and packages at the airport for logistical and security reasons.5 / 10'We are also happy to fly doctors and nurses representing government organisations, free of cost, across our domestic network, and also fly them back on the conclusion of their service.6 / 10The personnel who avail this service will have to mandatorily follow all the travel related SOPs and present relevant identification and documentation,' it added.7 / 10The airlines said that due to the limited availability of seats, it will accommodate the medical professionals on a first-come-first-serve basis.8 / 10As the world continues to battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, India so far has recorded over 1,69,60,172 positive cases, out of which, 1,40,85,110 have successfully recovered and 1,92,311 have died.9 / 10As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 3,49,691 new cases, 2,17,113 fresh recoveries and 2,767 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases across the country is 12,9811. 10 / 10Airlines have optimized their fleets and schedules to the new realities of air travel. Countless airliners still sit idle in aircraft boneyards while even the most popular routes in the US have seen flight frequencies slashed, meaning more passengers are filling fewer flights.