Air India is going to further epitomise why it is India’s National Carrier in the coming weeks, as the Covid-19 pandemic reaches optimum havoc in the country. Indeed, Air India will transport approximately 600 Oxygen Concentrators within the next 48 hours on its two flights between USA and India.
The Oxygen Concentrators will be loaded onto Air India’s A102 Aircraft at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and will take a 15 hour non-stop flight, arriving in India’s Capital City, New Delhi. Currently, India is experiencing over 300,000 Covid-19 cases per day and a lack of available oxygen in hospitals is exasperating the issue.
Overwhelmed by lack of Oxygen
An Indian Government Official based in the USA has indicated that they are expediting the response for oxygen supplies using all available resources. They said, ”Apart from this consignment that’s has been shipped by Philips Atlanta, additional flights carrying oxygen concentrators will take off from San Francisco and Newark to transport hundreds of concentrators. The next flight from the US to India is scheduled to depart from Newark Airport and will land in Delhi on April 27.”
Furthermore, it appears that donors in the USA are reaching out to Indian Mission and Air India on the possibility of transporting Oximeters in addition to oxygen concentrators. The Official added, “The Indian American community, NGO’s and individual’s are enquiring about the logistics of ways to reach out to those who are impacted the most by the pandemic in India”
US President Joe Biden has stated that reciprocity is at the heart of his country’s intentions to help India in its deadliest phase of the Covid-19 pandemic thus far. He tweeted, “Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need.”
Furthermore, the USA intend to provide India the raw material required to manufacture the Covishield Vaccine for India to rollout across its population.
