In the wake of the second wave of the pandemic, Delhi Airport emerged as the hub for handling and distributing relief materials from various parts of the world. Some of the noteworthy highlights of this period are:
Delhi Airport has remained at the forefront, proactively working with the Government of India and other stakeholders in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Between April 27, 2021, and May 25, 2021, Delhi Airport handled flights arriving from all parts of the world carrying consignments of various relief material such as Oxygen generating plants, Oxygen Generators, Oxygen Concentrators, Oxygen Cylinder, Oxygen therapy, Masks, Ventilators, Remdesivir injection, Patient beds, and medicines like Veklury/Tocilizumab etc. With the handling of 100th relief flights, Delhi Airport - India’s largest hub airport for handling and distributing COVID-19 related aid - recorded the highest movements of Covid relief aid among all Indian airports. Delhi Airport is the largest Cargo Hub Airport in the South Asia region. Two integrated Cargo Terminals have an annual cargo handling capacity of 1.8 million MT, which is scalable to 2.3 million MT. During the second wave of the pandemic, to ensure an efficient and swift handling of medical aid, Delhi Airport has set up a 3,500 sq. meters of dedicated interim storage and logistic facility, JEEVODAY warehouse. Besides, in terms of airside infrastructure, Delhi Airport is the first and only airport in the country to have 12 Nos. of dedicated Freighter parking bays, providing ample capacity for the Airlines to move cargo to and from the Airport. The cargo apron can do three Nose Load operations seamlessly at a single point in time. The airport plays a critical role as a transhipment hub to connect under-served countries/ regions to the rest of the world.
Delhi Airport has also ensured that relief flights prioritize landing with parking at Cargo bays near the Cargo terminals to ensure that consignments are processed and cleared in the least possible time after landing of aircraft. Dedicated teams from Cargo Terminal Operators, clearing agency, distribution warehouse centre have been assigned to ensure that the entire process of handling such relief aid materials is done quickly. The teams are working 24x7 for uninterrupted services, and support has been extended by GOI agencies, including Customs, CISF to facilitate such handling operations rapidly. The Cargo terminals are equipped with state-of-the-art handling equipment, advanced screening systems, efficient storage and processing facilities, paperless processes etc., providing efficient Cargo handling services for International and Domestic cargo. Both the Cargo terminals has world-class infrastructure with GDP certified temperature-controlled facilities for handling temperature-sensitive cargo.
