Hyderabad: In such crucial times, when the world is battling with Covid-19 pandemic and India is under virtual lock-down; GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo is keeping the vital link of essential supplies fully alive and operational.
Notified as one of the essential services, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo is working round the clock in close coordination with the Customs, Ground Handlers, Forwarders, CHAs (Customs House Agents), Regulators, State Police, Cargo Trade associations, to keep rolling the critical chain of essential supplies viz. Medicines, Vaccines, Medical equipment, Pharma raw material, Defense Goods, Bank related etc. seamlessly.
With around 200 dedicated and highly motivated personnel working in a shift, Hyderabad Air Cargo is operating round the clock to ensure all these essential supplies are properly handled and timely cleared. The personnel include GMR cargo staff, Customs officials, Regulatory Agencies, Ground handlers, Freight Forwarders, CHAs among others.
GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo is handling 11 freighters weekly along with some special cargo charters, which are connecting Hyderabad with all major international destinations in the United States of America, European countries, Middle-east, Africa, Far East, etc. – moving emergency supplies.
Among the key scheduled freighters that are operating from Hyderabad Airport to include – Cathay Cargo, Turkish Cargo, Qatar Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo, SpiceXpress Cargo (Domestic and international) and BlueDart Cargo. Any change over the crew of any of the freighter flight is taken care of from the main passenger terminal building in close coordination with the bare necessary staffing of GMR Terminal Operations, Immigrations, Customs, Ground handlers and Airside operations team.
All crew members are properly screened with the help of Airport Health Officer (APHO) and then only allowed to exit the airport building. Based on the fuel requirements, the freighters also uplift fuel, for which the GHIAL fuel farm is available 24 x 7.
Being part of essential services, despite the cross border lock-down, with the help of regulators, the Import cargo from Hyderabad Airport is catering majorly to the southern part of the country including – Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala; and also bridging the other states viz. Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, among others with vital cargo supplies.
Currently, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo is witnessing over 100 tons of export and import cargo daily. Out of this over 70% consignment belongs to Pharma and essential products. Some of the key Pharma companies, which are using the cargo services include – Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Mylan Laboratories Limited, Hetero Drugs, Divis Laboratories Limited, MSN Pharma, Pfizer, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Natco Pharma, among others.
Approx. 40-50 trucks (Bonded trucking, Temp-controlled trucks and General cargo trucks) are coming to Hyderabad Airport cargo for consignment delivery and lift-off daily.
To ensure the safety of its personnel, the airport is leaving no stone unturned to keep the volume and labor-intensive area of cargo fully sanitized round the clock. Some of the measures taken by the airport are as below:
- 100% screening by Infra-red Thermal Gun at entries for all incoming staff at cargo premises
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) viz. Gown, Gloves and Cap and Masks for cargo Handling Personnel
- Dedicated Doctor to oversee any medical concerns
- Health monitoring of all employees
- Periodic fumigation of the cargo terminal
- Frequent cleaning of work stations and equipment having frequent human touchpoints
- Encouraging Social Distancing among the personnel
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