Gurugram: SpiceJet, the country’s biggest air cargo operator said it has transported 505 tons of fresh shrimp produce to Surat using its dedicated fleet of freighters and passenger aircraft and operating special cargo flights.

SpiceJet had launched dedicated freighter flights on February 25 this year to ferry shrimp. The airline has transported 505 tons of shrimp to Surat during the lockdown phase till May 8, 2020 carrying 365 MT on Chennai-Surat route, 140 MT on Vishakhapatnam-Surat route among others.

Between February 25 and May 8, SpiceJet has transported close to 800 tons of shrimp to Surat. Shrimp farmers used to face a lot of problems in undertaking timely transportation of seeds in the absence of dedicated freighter flights thereby leading to heavy losses.

Altogether, SpiceJet has transported over 20 lakh kilograms of fresh farm and shrimp produce during the lockdown period. This includes 950 tons of shrimp carried during the lockdown period, till May 8 and 1070 tons of fresh farm produce.

Overall, during the lockdown period, SpiceJet has transported 631 tons of cargo to and from Gujarat which includes transporting medical and surgical supplies, sanitizers, face masks, coronavirus rapid test kits, IR thermometers etc. and providing doorstep deliveries of essential supplies, medicines, medical equipment, cold chain medical supplies to various medical and pharma companies, international retailers in this global war against COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline has transported a total of 6650 tons of cargo within and outside India during the lockdown period.

The airline has operated special cargo flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok, Colombo, Dubai, Kabul, Myanmar, Sharjah, Male, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou, Bahrain, Cambodia, Ukraine and a host of other places.

The airline operated the country’s first cargo-on-seat flight on April 7 carrying vital supplies in passenger cabin & belly space. Since then, the airline has been regularly deploying its B737 and Q400 passenger aircraft to carry cargo in the passenger cabin.

On March 29, SpiceJet operated a special flight between Delhi and Jodhpur to facilitate transportation of 136 Indian passengers evacuated from COVID-19 hit Iran to a Government quarantine facility in the city.

SpiceJet operated a special charter flight on March 27 from Delhi to Coimbatore on Government’s request and transported a Hazmat suit that is helping local authorities replicate and start local manufacturing.