India humanitarian air bridge is in place between Dubai and nine major cities in the country to transport urgent COVID-19 medical and relief items.
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Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are the designated cities for the initiative taken by Emirates’ to support India in its fight to control the second wave of the pandemic.
The first shipment under the initiative, a consignment of over 12 tonnes of multi-purpose tents from the World Health Organisation (WHO), has reached Delhi.
Emirates has offered cargo capacity free of charge to NGOs to ship relief items on all its flights from Dubai to nine cities where it is operating flights. Emirates SkyCargo has been transporting medicines and medical equipment on scheduled and charter cargo flights.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman and Chief Executive, has said regular and reliable wide-body capacity aircraft in the fleet would be used for rushing relief materials. International Humanitarian City in Dubai, the largest crisis relief hub in the world, will facilitate movement of urgent medical supplies.
The freight division of Emirates has a close partnership with IHC, developed over several years of delivering relief materials to communities across the world impacted by natural disasters and other crises.
For Kerala, the airbridge will come in handy as the State government has already made arrangements for the import of relief products related to COVID-19 following the tax exemption granted by the Centre.
Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited has been designated by the government to receive COVID-19 relief products from the foreign donors on behalf of the State government. NoRKA Roots, the field agency of the Department of Non-Resident Keralites, will procure the relief products.
