Lifeline UDAN flights cover over 1 lakh km

The aircrafts under the Lifeline UDAN initiative have covered more than 1 lakh km during transportation of essential goods to fight the COVID-19 situation.

About Lifeline UDAN

Lifeline Udan was launched by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to help in the country’s fight against COVID-19. Flights are operated to transport essential medicines and equipment across the country under this initiative. In just 5 days, the 62 plus Lifeline Udan aircrafts have transported more than 15.4 tonnes of essential supplies.

Ministry’s Steps under the Initiative

Some of the step taken by the Ministry are:

• Establishment of a control room under the direct supervision of the Ministry to coordinate the flights.
• Transportation of cargo including PPE, test kits, reagents, enzymes, etc.
• Flights operated in a hub and spoke model. Cargo hubs have been set up in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
• Special focus on north-east region.
• Cargo air-bridge between India and China.

Air Carriers involved in the Initiative

Some of the air carriers involved in the initiative are: Alliance Air, Air India, Indian Air Force (IAF) and Pawan Hans. Commercial carriers involved in transporting medical supplies include Spicejet, IndiGo and BlueDart. Support is being provided using airports under Airports Authority of India (AAI), AAICLAS, AIASL, PPP and even private handling entities.