COVID-19: SpiceJet, Qatar Airways join hands with IAF, AI for oxygen supply

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To supplement the efforts of the Indian Air Force in carrying oxygen to the regions of critical shortage in the country, private carriers such as SpiceJet and Qatar Airways have joined hands with the defence forces.

SpiceXpress, the air cargo arm of SpiceJet, fetched 2,450 oxygen concentrators from Nanjing, China and Hong Kong to Kolkata and New Delhi on Tuesday.

The airline has also airlifted about 6,900 oxygen concentrators from the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and China so far in the past two weeks.

On April 24 SpiceJet airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators followed by another consignment of 1,000 oxygen concentrators on April 28 from Hong Kong to Delhi for SpiceHealth for emergency use and distribution across India.

Qatar airlines to follow the path

Qatar Airways already brought 150 oxygen concentrators and 100 oxygen cylinders till date including 300 tonnes of medical items from Western Asian countries to India.

“The State of Qatar has a long and special relationship with India, and we have watched with great sorrow as COVID-19 has once again caused a significant challenge to the country. As one of the world air cargo leaders, with an extensive international network, we stand ready to provide humanitarian support by transporting these much-needed supplies, and help the country fight back against this appalling virus” said Qatar Airways group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker.

IAF role

Till date, the Indian Air Force has been one of the front runners to support the administration in its fight against the infection surge. IAF airlifted 9 oxygen tankers, 150 tonnes of oxygen and about 190 oxygen concentrators throughout the globe.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Defence, IAF has carried out 31 sorties from abroad fetching 51 oxygen containers with a cumulative capacity of 1630 tonnes. Inside the country, it carried out 192 sorties carrying 137 containers.

Air India

According to reports Air India planned to airlift at least 14,000 oxygen concentrators from various parts of the world. Already more than 10,000 concentrators had been brought.

Besides oxygen cylinders, liquid oxygen is also being carried by Air India. According to the civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri, Air India plans to airlift 10,636 oxygen concentrators manufactured by Philips. 6,636 concentrators have already been flown in from the US.

Picture of India

India has registered 3,780 fresh COVID-19 fatalities in a single day taking the death toll to 2,26,188.

After the country witnessed a dip in single-day cases recorded during the last three days, the daily active cases have again witnessed a rise by 3,82,315 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours.

The total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 2,06,65,148. The Union health ministry data said that active cases have increased to 34,87,229.