The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the aviation industry is determined to support India’s war against COVID-19 by transporting medical air-cargo within India and abroad in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. ‘Lifeline Udan’ flights are being operated by MoCA to transport essential medical cargo to remote parts of the country to support India’s war against COVID-19. 227 flights have been operated under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private carriers.138 of these flights have been operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Cargo transported till date is around 407.40 tons.  Aerial distance covered by Lifeline Udan flights till date is over 2,20,129 km. Covid warriors continue to work hard to ensure constant supply specially to remote areas

The date-wise breakup of the Lifeline Udan flights is as follows:

Helicopter services including Pawan Hans Ltd have been operating in J&K, Ladakh, Islands and North East region transporting critical medical cargo and patients.

The domestic Lifeline Udan cargo includes COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits, Personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gloves, other materials of HLL and ICMR; cargo requisitioned by State/UT Governments and postal packets etc.

Domestic Cargo Operators SpiceJet, Blue Dart and Indigo are operating cargo flights on a commercial basis. Spicejet operated 315 cargo flights during 24 March to 13 April 2020 covering a distance of 4,50,139 km and carrying 2645 tons of cargo. Out of these 100 were international cargo flights. Blue Dart operated 104 domestic cargo flights covering a distance of 1,01,042 km and carrying 1636 tons of cargo during 25 March to 13 April 2020. Indigo has operated 25 cargo flights during 3-13 April 2020 covering a distance of 21,906 km and carrying around 21.77 tons of cargo.  This also includes medical supplies carried free of cost for the government.

International Sector

Air India operated first flight between Mumbai and London on 13 April carrying 28.95 tons of fruits and vegetables to London and returned with 15.6 Tons of general cargo material. Air India will operate dedicated scheduled cargo flights to other countries for transfer of critical medical supplies, as per the requirement. Within South Asia, Air India transported around 9 tons of supplies on 7 April 2020 and 4 tonnes on 8 April 2020 to Colombo.

An air-bridge has been established with effect from 4 April 2020 for transportation of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and Covid-19 relief material. The date-wise quantity of medical cargo brought in as follows:

Domestic cargo by Spicejet (on 13.4.2020)

International cargo by Spicejet ( on 13.4.2020)

Blue Dart cargo uplift (on 13.4.2020)

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RJ/NG