Delhi Airport handled around 30,000 stranded passengers, over 12,600 MTs of cargo during lockdown
May 06, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 6 : Delhi Airport remained functional during the coronavirus-induced lockdown and handled around 1,000 cargo and over 310 evacuation flight movements - both domestic and international, GMR group said in a statement on Wednesday.
It said that evacuation flights to 58 destinations were operated out of Delhi Airport during the last 40 days of lockdown.
"Around 27,500 foreign nationals and 2,300 Indians were evacuated during this period. Also, the airport handled the movement of over 12,600 metric tonnes of import and export cargo, including COVID-19 related medical essentials and fresh vegetables," the statement said.
These flights were operated by 44 countries including the US, Britain, Germany, Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia, France, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh to repatriate their stranded citizens from India, following permission from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
A Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) spokesperson said, "Also, the airport's cargo staff have ensured that the movement of medical essentials is fast, for which we have made special arrangements."
The GMR statement further said that Delhi Airport handled approximately 12,600 metric tonnes (MTs) of cargo, including pharma products and other medical essentials.
"Over 500 personnel from DIAL's operations, cargo, housekeeping, Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF), apron control teams, in coordination with CISF (Central Industrial Security Force), immigration, airlines, ground handling agencies, ATC (Air Traffic Control), etc have been working round-the-clock to make it possible," it said.
"The airport handled around 3,000 MTs of export goods, of which major commodities were pharmaceuticals and perishable cargo, like fresh vegetables, including other non-essential commodities," the statement added.
Delhi Airport was recently designated as the major hub for import and distribution of COVID-19 related medical essentials, following which a dedicated medical distribution facility for processing and distribution of imported medical essentials was set up.
