Covid surge: Air India flies in 190 tonnes medical equipment from across globe to India

NEW DELHI: During the ongoing Covid surge, Air India has flown in over 8,000 medical equipment — about 190 tonnes — from countries like Hong Kong, Germany , USA , Singapore, UAE and UK to India for onward delivery in various states.
In the last 10 days, it has been ferrying critical medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, BiPAP machines and ventilators from several locations globally as India has seen massive demand for life-saving medical equipment over the last few weeks.
“Various international agencies like Amazon, Temasek Foundation, Phillips ,Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) from Singapore, World Hindu Council of America and others have trusted Air India to transport tonnes of critical medical equipment and other supplies. In the coming days, we have plans to carry more such equipment in good numbers from countries from where it can be procured by any government or private agency,” AI said in a statement Tuesday.
Air India had last year transported large quantities of PPE equipment critical medical supplies and other essential goods worldwide. “Since the outbreak of the pandemic, AI has been spreading its wings to play a pivotal role to fly home over 35 lakh people covering more than 75 destinations in 55 countries — including to those stations where no Indian airline has ever operated (like Auckland and Vancouver). Our cargo unit is also totally geared up to shoulder this responsibility including operation of cargo-only flights,” it added.