Category Archives: Aviation

With the advent of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has facilitated the transportation of over 387 tonnes of COVID relief supplies. Since the first shipment which arrived on April 26, CSMIA has registered the arrival of approximately 110 flights originating from 20 destinations across the globe. The airport has been prioritizing the shipments of essential medical supplies and achieved an overall processing time of 15 minutes, including offloading and storage. CSMIA facilitated the arrival of over 17,700 Oxygen concentrators, 3,19,800 vials of Remdesivir injections and 1,13,900 vials of Tocilizumab injections approximately in the period between April 26 – May 14 to cater to the increase in demand of these goods for the treatment of patients in India.

COV-AID@BLR, a 150-bed oxygenated COVID-19 treatment centre at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/ BLR Airport), has been operationalised. The facility was virtually inaugurated by Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa on May 19, 2021 during his visit to the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/ BLR Airport). Located near the Cargo Terminals of BLR Airport, COV-AID@BLR is open for the public and employees from the BLR Airport ecosystem The facility is designed to treat patients who are asymptomatic, with mild hypoxia (a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level). It is designed to be a transit oxygen delivery centre, which would provide much-needed relief and treatment for patients requiring oxygen support until they are able to get admission in a hospital. This facility is not equipped to treat pregnant women or moderate cases and those requiring high flow oxygen support / ICU beds.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope reached out to Allcargo chairman Shashi Kiran Shetty to help procure masks for urgent distribution across the interiors of the state. To meet the state’s demand, Allcargo has already transported 2 million masks from Singapore. Another 1 million to be brought in from the USA, China, and other countries. Following the logistics industry initiative led by Mr. Shetty in April when Allcargo flew in 500 oxygen concentrators, Bluewater Lines provided for the containers this time. Allcargo Logistics Limited, part of The Avvashya Group, is a global leader in integrated logistics solutions. The Company offers specialized logistics services across Multimodal Transport Operations, Container Freight Station Operations/Inland Container Depot Operations and Project & Engineering Solutions and Logistics Park. Benchmarked quality standards, standardized processes, and operation excellence across all the services and facilities, have enabled Allcargo Logistics Limited to emerge as the market leader in all these segments.

Blue Dart, India’s leading express logistics service provider and part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL) formed Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium with the mission of revolutionizing the delivery of vaccines and emergency medical supplies to the remotest parts of India with Drones. Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium is part of the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project in collaboration with the Government of Telangana, World Economic Forum, Niti Aayog and Healthnet Global. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted the project with necessary exemptions and rights to fly drone flights on an experimental basis in Telangana. The aim is to assess an alternate logistics route in providing safe, accurate and reliable pickup and delivery of health care items (medicines, covid-19 vaccines, units of blood, diagnostic specimens and other lifesaving equipment) from distribution centre to specific location and back. Proud to be able to help the country in its fight against the pandemic Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart says, “It’s been over a year and our battle against COVID-19 continues to unfold new challenges that need solutions in real-time. The pandemic has taught each one of us the importance of logistics and the need for a tech-led supply chain infrastructure. As an organization Blue Dart has always been surrounded with the technology of the future. It is this ability that has helped us to not only withstand the pandemic but thrive with growth. While we reach out to over 35,000 locations across the country, the current situation calls for a much deeper penetration of vaccines.”

IATA is predicting a positive outlook for air cargo demand and believes it will continue to improve as the vaccine rollout progresses and bellyhold services pick up. In a press conference, Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, said airlines “deserve great credit” for pivoting their business focus away from passenger operations and towards airfreight in a short period of time. Noting the use of preighters, Walsh said: “Airlines demonstrated great agility in responding to demand to ensure that there was sufficient supply to meet critical supply chain issues during the pandemic.” He added that as passenger services pick up while the global vaccine rollout progresses, airlines will “shift from survival mode to rebuilding”. “As that happens, we’ll continue to be very focused on the environmental issues that have not in any way bated since we’ve gone through this crisis,” he said. “There is also an immediate focus on the development of sustainable aviation fuels.”

Recently launched CMA CGM Air Cargo has continued to expand its freighter network with the addition of three new destinations. The airline, owned by Marseille-based shipping group CMA CGM, has added Dubai, Beirut and Istanbul to its existing flights covering Liège, Chicago, New York and Atlanta. The service between Liege and Dubai will begin on May 19 and the A330F capacity provider hopes to pick up traffic carry cargo originating in Africa and Asia to and from Europe. “With its services to Dubai, the CMA CGM Group can also provide its customers with a combined Sea-Air offer comprising shipping, logistics and airfreight,” it said. The flights between Liege and Istanbul and Beirut will begin in the next few weeks. Xavier Eiglier, executive vice president CMA CGM Air cargo, said: “Strategically located at the crossroads between several continents, these new destinations will help speed up CMA CGM Air Cargo’s development.”

India has been battling a severe second wave of the covid pandemic and hospitals in several states are running short of health workers, vaccines, oxygen, drugs and beds. Emirates has set up a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief items, to support India in its fight to control the serious COVID-19 situation in the country. The first shipment carrying over 12 tons of tents will head to Delhi on Thursday, 13 May. The first shipment sent as part of the Emirates India humanitarian airbridge is a consignment of over 12 tons of multi-purpose tents from the World Health Organization (WHO), destined for Delhi, and coordinated by the IHC in Dubai. The creation of the humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India, facilitated by Emirates SkyCargo, Dubai’s International Humanitarian City and UN agencies, to transport urgent medical and relief items. HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman and Chief Executive, said: “India and Emirates are deeply connected, since our first flights to India in 1985. We stand with the Indian people and will do all we can to help India get back on its feet. Emirates has a lot of experience in humanitarian relief efforts, and with 95 weekly flights to 9 destinations in India, we will be offering regular and reliable widebody capacity for relief materials.”

Adani Group has secured medical oxygen and transportable cryogenic containers as well as augment health infrastructure. The Adani Group has already procured 48 cryogenic tanks capable of carrying 780 tonnes of liquid oxygen across the nation, a group spokesperson said. The Adani Group is ramping up its efforts in India’s battle against the pandemic. “As soon as the second COVID wave hit India, the Adani Group began leveraging its overseas connections to procure hard-to-find supplies of critical essentials like medical oxygen and transportable cryogenic containers,” the spokesperson said. It procured 48 cryogenic tanks from leading manufacturers in countries like Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and UAE. While some of these large cryogenic tanks were shipped in through the group’s Mundra Port in Gujarat, others were airlifted into the country with the help of the Indian Air Force, which deployed its biggest transport aircraft for these time-critical operations. These cryogenic tanks are a vital addition to the hardware India sorely needed to manage the medical oxygen requirements of patients across the country.

Airports Authority of India, Goa International Airport and its frontline corona warriors have been playing an active role to combat covid-19 by facilitating the seamless delivery of medical essentials. Goa International Airport has further strengthened its mission to tackle the unprecedented situation created by coviid-19 by seamless supply of medical essentials i.e., Covid vaccines, Fabiflu medicines, covid-19 testing kits and other essentials. Goa Airport has facilitated the movement of Covid Vaccine to the state of Goa in the second phase of pandemic as part of Inbound Cargo and ensured the expeditious exit of consignments and handing over to the Health Authorities in shortest time possible. 1. 13 Boxes of Covid vaccine (COVISHIELD) received from Chennai on 18.04.2021. 2. 9 Boxes of Covid vaccine (COVISHIELD) received from Mumbai on 30.04.2021. 3. 122 Kg of Covid-19 Testing kits received from Delhi on 23.04.2021. In addition to inbound Cargo, Goa Airport has also played a crucial role in facilitating the supply of Glenmark’s Fabiflu medicines as part of Outbound Cargo to different parts of the country i.e., Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Indore, Nagpur etc. A total of 31,955 Kg of Fabiflu medicines flew from Goa Airport as part of outbound Cargo in the month of April, 2021. Fabiflu is used for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid infected people. Goa despite being smallest state is playing a significant role by being at the forefront in the fight against Covid-19 and Goa International Airport is working as gateway on 24×7 basis.

Delmos Aviation transported around 100 oxygen concentrators from Russia to New Delhi for the Government of Rajasthan. Delmos Aviation arranged for an end to end logistics supply for the Rajasthan Government and helped them with pre-buying formalities, legal documentation and clearance processes. Dr Naveen Rao, Director – Delmos Aviation, said, “We are proud to help the government in the procurement of oxygen concentrators in a short span of just three days. During this medical crisis, time-bound deliveries are very crucial. We will not leave any stone unturned to provide all possible support to the people of our country. We will keep on working hard to create new benchmarks. I would especially like to thanks the Aeroflot Cargo management team, Centurion Logistics and Moscow Cargo warehouse for prioritizing and expediting all the documentation needs, enabling a quick airlifting of the consignment.” A total of 1250 oxygen concentrators are ordered and will reach New Delhi in four lots of 100, 300, 450 and 400 units each. Apart from today, other lots will be arriving on 9th, 14th, and 16th May 2021. The consignment includes Oxygen Concentrator Single Flowmeter (0.5-10LPM Adjustable) and Oxygen Concentrator Dual Flowmeter (0-5LPM Adjustable). The models are JAY-10A & LFY-I-5A. “During this raging second wave of the pandemic, Rajasthan Government is working hard to procure essential medical equipment on the directions of Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot and Health Minister, Raghu Sharma. As part of its efforts to augment the medical oxygen in the State, the government planned to import 1250 oxygen concentrators from Moscow, Russia, in collaboration with Delmos Aviation Pvt. Ltd”, said the official spokesperson.