Amid lockdown, Indigo operates flight from Delhi to Jodhpur for Iran-returned Indians

In-line with its commitment to provide support to the nation in the current scenario, IndiGo operated a relief flight from Delhi to Jodhpur on March 29, 2020. India is currently under a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the spread of the coronavirus and consequently, all international and domestic commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this period.

However, as per an official statement,  the flight 6E-9121 operated by 2 captains and 4 cabin crew, carried 139 Indian passengers to Jodhpur to be shifted to the Army isolation centre. All passengers were certified as being corona negative prior to the flight. These passengers had arrived from Iran to Delhi on another flight as part of the evacuation process of Indian citizens from the Covid-2019 impacted countries.

Furthermore, the statement apprised about the precautionary measures while checking in and operating the flight, including overall staff, crew and aircraft maintenance engineers using personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, spraying disinfectant on all the bags prior to loading, meal boxes placed on seats prior to boarding and passenger disembarkation in lots of 20 and x-ray treatment of all check-in baggage.

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Meanwhile, Indian airlines are currently in "grave and immediate danger" of insolvency as a result of disruption in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic that can reduce about 5.75 lakh jobs in the Indian aviation industry, global airlines body IATA has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Coronavirus in India

As of March 29, India has reported 979 positive cases so far and 25 deaths. To tackle the growing cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. The highest number of cases have been reported from Maharashtra - 186 cases and Kerala - 182 cases.

Prime Minister Modi established a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund).

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