The Air India and the IndiGo operated seven flights to 13 destinations to transport medical supplies, according to a senior official co-ordinating relief efforts along with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The Air India flew a Boeing 787 from Mumbai to Delhi and back and an Airbus A 320 from Delhi to Imphal carrying medical equipment and medicines, according to the airline’s spokesperson.
Its subsidiary Alliance Air also operated three flights on its smaller 72-seater aircraft including Delhi-Raipur-Bhubaneswar-Delhi sector, Kolkata-Tripura and Mumbai-Pune-Raipur.
The IndiGo also operated a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru with four stops in between, which included Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. It carried 3 tonnes of cargo for medical requirements.
Also read: Planes flying to ensure ICMR kits to test COVID-19 reach on time: Civil Aviation Minister
While all these airlines carried cargo in the belly of their planes, discussions are on between the government and different airlines to allow freight to be carried inside passenger cabins as is being done by many international carriers in other parts of the world.
