Hyderabad, January 12, 2021 : GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) handled the 1st consignment of Covid 19 vaccines today. The shipment arrived at the Cargo terminal by the Spicejet Freighter, SG7466 at 11:30 am from Pune. The Covishield vaccine consignment was handled as per the special protocol ensuring cool-chain integrity. A dedicated Vaccine Task Force that has been formed, with a nodal person, to ensure a seamless and high priority movement of Covid 19 vaccines handled the shipment at the Hyderabad International Airport.

The Vaccine consignment consisting of 31 boxes of 1 MT of Covishield vaccine were offloaded from the aircraft parked in the adjoining dedicated cargo apron and swiftly taken to the vaccine storage and handling areas in the GHAC Terminal. The Task Force ensured the quick movement of the vaccine through the domestic inbound section to the reefer truck bound for Consignee (State Govt. Dept.).

Out of 41 mini-hubs planned across the country by the Govt of India, Hyderabad has been notified as one of the designated distribution points for South India.

“The GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo has been relentlessly working for timely and smooth supply of essentials and other relief material during the Covid times to various destinations. The first consignment of the Covid 19 vaccine was today received at the Hyderabad International Airport.

GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) has a major role cut out in the entire value chain of vaccine shipments and is well equipped with the necessary infrastructure to handle 100’s of MT of vaccine cargo per day. The terminal offers one of India’s largest fleet of the modern temp-controlled Cool Containers viz. Cool Dolly, Envirotainer, VaQtec, etc. The handling of the Covid 19 vaccine consignment has been a collaborative effort of all stakeholders involved, exporters, importers, logistics companies, freight forwarders / agents, government, airlines and we thank everyone involved in this humane task,” said Mr. Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport.

Against this backdrop, GMR led Hyderabad International Airport and GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo are set to play a major role.