SpiceJet carries India’s first Covid-19 vaccine consignment; transports 4 million doses on Day 1

SpiceJet carried the country’s first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines from Pune to Delhi earlier today. This was followed by multiple flights to different cities as the Indian carrier transported close to 4 million Covishield vaccine doses weighing around 11 tonnes on the very first day of the shipment.

The first consignment of Covishield consisting of 2,64,000 doses was transported from Pune to Delhi on SpiceJet flight SG 8937. The flight took-off from the Pune International Airport at 8.05 am and landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi at 10.15 am.

The carrier transported multiple vaccine consignments from Pune to different Indian cities including 276,000 doses to Guwahati, 996,000 doses to Kolkata, 3,72,000 doses to Hyderabad, 480,000 doses to Bhubaneswar, 648,000 doses to Bengaluru, 552,000 doses to Patna and 408,000 doses to Vijayawada.

Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director, SpiceJet said, “Today is a historic day in our country’s fight against the pandemic and I am very proud that India’s first consignment of Covid-19 vaccine was carried today by SpiceJet from Pune to Delhi. On Day One, SpiceJet is shipping 4 million doses of Covishield vaccine weighing close to 11 tonnes to eight different cities which include Guwahati, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Patna, Vijayawada and Delhi. As India gets ready for the biggest vaccination drive in its history, the SpiceJet family hopes and prays for a quick, complete and decisive victory in this fight against coronavirus.”

SpiceXpress – the cargo arm of SpiceJet – aims to provide an efficient, speedy and reliable solution for vaccine delivery, while also creating a sustainable cold chain network. As part of its continued efforts to take up the responsibility of transporting Covid-19 vaccine to every part of the country as well as outside India, the airline has partnered with global leaders in cold chain solutions offering active and passive packaging with dedicated equipment to perform seamless cold chain operations.

With a network spanning 54 domestic and 45 international destinations and a fleet of 17 cargo planes, SpiceXpress is capable of flying over 500 tonnes of cargo per day to both domestic and a wide list of international destinations.

Ever since the lockdown began, SpiceJet and its cargo arm, SpiceXpress, has played a critical role and worked relentlessly to ensure that the country’s supply chain remained intact. The airline has helped in the transportation of vital goods and medical supplies to all corners of India and the world. The airline has operated more than 12,600 cargo flights since the lockdown began and carried around 1,02,000 tonnes of cargo. Since 2018, SpiceJet has developed the capability of providing door-to-door deliveries to over 12,600 pin codes across India.