Begin typing your search...
Airports step up to ensure smooth COVID vaccine transport
Major Indian airports will provide flexible slots and separate temperature-controlled zones while air cargo operators would run multiple flights in a short time span to transport COVID-19 vaccines that are expected to become available in India early next year.
By
migrator
migrator
New Delhi
The Indian government is in touch with Moderna, Pfizer, Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila over the progress of the clinical trials of each of the vaccine candidates. The CSMIA (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) in Mumbai is the “largest pharma gateway in the country” and it will provide flexible slot allocation for ad hoc freighter operations for transportation of COVID-19 vaccines, a spokesperson of the airport said.
A slot is a date and time at which an aircraft is permitted to depart or arrive at an airport. The CSMIA will provide “round the clock green channel with dedicated truck docks, X-Ray machine, ULD (unit load device) buildup workstation” and key account managers will be deployed for “round the clock monitoring of vaccine operations”,” the spokesperson said. On the topic of COVID-19 vaccine transportation, a spokesperson of air cargo operator Blue Dart -- which has six Boeing 757 freighter aircraft in its fleet -- said that the company’s air capability “has various scalability options including charters as well as variable timing options”. “We have eight pharma grade conditioning rooms at eight strategic locations like Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangaluru, Pune. These rooms are at close proximity to our Blue Dart aviation station which increases our turnaround time and will aid in speedy delivery,” he added.
A senior official of another major air cargo operator in India said the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines for as big as a population as India’s will be a “massive undertaking” and his company is readying to operate “multiple flights in a short time span” whenever the demand arises. IndiGo, when asked about vaccine transportation planning, said, “In line with our business model and cost leadership strategy, we are happy to evaluate the shipment of the COVID-19 vaccines onboard our aircraft and will promise to contribute to the best of our abilities.”
ALL SET FOR AIRBORNE DELIVERY
- An Air India spokesperson said the airline would definitely be a part of any plan of bringing the vaccine within the country
- A spokesperson of DIAL, which operates the Delhi international airport, said there are two cargo terminals with capacity to handle over 1.5 lakh million tonnes per annum
- They have “state-of-the-art temperature-controlled zones with separate cool chambers ranging from +25°C to -20°C, which would be extremely conducive for distribution of COVID 19 vaccines”
- There are cool dollies at the airside that ensure unbroken cool chain during temperature-sensitive cargo movement between terminal and aircraft
- A spokesperson of HIAL, which operates the Hyderabad international airport, said it also has temperaturecontrolled zones for vaccine transportation
- The freighter parking stands are just 50 metres away from the terminal
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story
