Nearly 400 tonnes of shrimp has been transported from Visakhapatnam airport between February 25 and May 8, thanks to SpiceJet, which is helping farmers minimise their losses in the absence of dedicated freighter flights.
During the lockdown period, till May 8, SpiceJet said that it carried 225 tonnes of shrimp from Visakhapatnam. In a statement, the airline said that it is transporting the produce under the union government's ‘Marine Krishi Udaan’ initiative.
The airline said that it is "ensuring that the supply chain remains intact so the farmers can get transportation to export their produce in a timely manner during the lockdown."
For this purpose, it is using its fleet of freighters and passenger aircraft and operating special cargo flights.
The airline said that around 138 metric tonnes on the Visakhapatnam-Surat route and 87 metric tonnes on the Visakhapatnam-Kolkata route have been transported so far, besides other routes.
"These are the most difficult times for our farmer community who have been amongst the worst-hit during this pandemic. In the absence of timely transportation, farmers would have faced huge losses and we are happy that our cargo services have been of help to them,” Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, said in a statement.
Overall, the airline has transported 20 lakh kilograms of fresh farm and shrimp produce during the lockdown period. This includes 950 tonnes of shrimp carried till 8 may and 1070 tonnes of fresh farm produce. It has also transported 600 tonnes of cargo to and from Visakhapatnam which also includes medical and essential supplies.
The airline has operated cargo within and outside the country during the lockdown period.
SpiceJet has been expanding its cargo network on both domestic and international routes carrying not just COVID-19 related medical supplies but also ensuring that vital export lines from India to other countries remain intact.
On March 29, the airline operated a special flight for evacuating Indian passengers from Iran.