The airline has today added Moscow to its international cargo network and the company flew over 16 tons of pharma supplies to the Russian capital.

Budget carrier SpiceJet continues to ramp up its cargo services even as passenger operations remain down due to coronavirus. The airline has today added Moscow to its international cargo network and the company flew over 16 tons of pharma supplies to the Russian capital. “Moscow is the latest addition to our fast expanding cargo network which spans over 35 international destinations. We have added six new international destinations in the last ten days,” Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director, SpiceJet said in a statement on Wednesday. The airline has operated more than 2200 cargo flights and has carried around 15,700 tons of cargo since the country imposed a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus lockdown.

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Airline industry is one of the worst hit sectors due to coronavirus with the carriers getting almost zero revenues in almost two months. Earlier, Ajay Singh had called the company’s cargo initiative an “opportunity in crisis” as the flight services remain down globally. The government had restricted flight services in the country during lockdown and had allowed flight to operate merely a month ago as lockdown was eased. Even then, international travel still remains banned. “We see a tremendous potential in the cargo business and will continue to expand in the times to come,” Ajay Singh had said late in May. The government had also deployed carriers such as SpiceJet to fly essential items to farway cities. Other than cargo flights, medical evacuation flights and special flights were also permitted by the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). 

SpiceJet has operated special cargo flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Baghdad, Cambodia, Cairo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Sharjah, and various other cities.