GoAir begins vaccine delivery; Operates flight to Chennai from Pune containing 70,800 vials

BMUMBAI: Budget carrier GoAir has operated a flight to Chennai from Pune, containing 70,800 vials of COVID-19 vaccines as the much-awaited roll out of the vaccine commenced on Tuesday.

The flight took off for Chennai from Pune early morning on Tuesday, carrying 70,800 vials (7,08,000 doses) of the vaccine, according to GoAir.

"We at GoAir are overwhelmed with the kind of responsibility bestowed upon us to transport the life-saving COVID-19 vaccines. We are grateful that we have got an opportunity to be able to contribute to the vaccine movement and support the noble cause," GoAir chief Executive Officer, Kaushik Khona said in a statement.

"In our efforts to alleviate the complexities of the vaccine movement given the scale of the consignments and logistics, we are taking every possible step to support the institutions and our stakeholders to reach the vaccine in all possible corners of the country," he said.

This responsibility of vaccine shipment recognises the efforts taken by GoAir towards developing its cargo services for critical vaccine movement and motivates us to take the lead in order to remain the preferred choice for the industry, Khona added.

Earlier in the day, flights started ferrying vaccines to different cities from Pune with the first consignment of Covishield vaccines in a flight operated by budget carrier SpiceJet reaching Delhi from Pune at around 10 am, four days ahead of the launch of a nationwide drive against coronavirus.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said four airlines will operate nine flights to transport 56.5 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pune to 13 cities across the country on Tuesday.