COVID-19: Air India to conduct eight cargo-only flights on Tuesday

Air India will undertake eight flights on Tuesday to transport cargo across various cities of the country amid the 21-day lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, said a senior airline official on Monday.

"As required by the civil aviation ministry, Air India would be conducting three flights using the same A320 aircraft on Mumbai-Delhi route, Delhi-Guwahati route and Guwahati-Mumbai route," the official stated.

The other three flights with cargo would be flying using another A320 aircraft on Delhi-Hyderabad route, Hyderabad-Chennai route and Chennai-Delhi route, the official noted.

As India is under a 21-day lockdown from March 25 to curb the spread of the coronavirus, all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period.

However, cargo flights, special flights conducted with the approval of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), offshore helicopter operations and medical evacuation flights have been exempted from the flight ban.

The official from Air India stated: "Another A320 aircraft would be used to fly cargo from Chennai to Port Blair. The plane would return the same day to Chennai."