Hyderabad, Delhi airports ready for COVID vaccine transportation

New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that a COVID vaccine could be ready within weeks, Delhi and Hyderabad airports’ air cargo services are all set to play a pivotal role in its distribution through state-of-the-art time and temperature-sensitive distribution systems.
As per the Delhi airport, it has two cargo terminals with world-class infrastructure that provides a GDP (Good Distribution Practice)-certified temperature-controlled facility for handling temperature-sensitive cargo.
With the capacity to handle over 1.5 lakh metric tonne cargo per annum, the Delhi airport facility has state-of-the-art temperature-controlled zones with separate cool chambers ranging from -20 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius, which would be extremely conducive for the distribution of the COVID 19 vaccines.
Delhi airport authorities said that besides the cool chamber, it also has “cool dollies” at the airside that ensure an unbroken cool chain during temperature-sensitive cargo movement between terminal and aircraft.
#WATCH | GMR Hyderabad air cargo and Delhi Airport’s air cargo are set to play a pivotal role in the distribution of vaccines through state-of-the-art time-and temperature-sensitive distribution system. (Video source – GMR) pic.twitter.com/5yizh3Vb0F — ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2020 “The terminals have separate gates dedicated for fast movement of vehicles carrying vaccines in and out of the airport. In line with the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s vision to create metro airports as transshipment hubs, the Delhi airport has set up a dedicated Transshipment Excellence Centre spread over an area of 6,500 square m at the airside that will help in the fast movement of vaccines through transshipment,” a Delhi airport spokesperson stated.
The Delhi airport’s QR code-based e-Gate Pass facility will provide an automated process for paper documentation and reduce human interface, thereby making the fast movement of imported vaccine deliveries.