COVID-19: DGCA Issues Guidelines to Operate Commercial Passenger Aircraft for Cargo-Only Operations

Amid a nationwide lockdown to curb the unfold of COVID-19, aviation regulator DGCA issued pointers on Wednesday for airways that plan to move cargo akin to medical tools and important items utilizing their industrial passenger plane. The DGCA round stated that “considering the extraordinary situation the country is facing, permission maybe given to scheduled and non-scheduled operators to use the available passenger category aircraft (without configuration change) for the carriage of cargo” beneath sure situations.

The round famous that permission have to be taken first from Flight Standards and Airworthiness Directorate after which with Air Transport directorate within the DGCA. “Carriage of dangerous goods, including lithium batteries, oxygen canister shall not be allowed,” the regulator famous.

If the airline plans to make use of passenger compartment to hold cargo, it has to be sure that it’s in accredited stowage places akin to closets and overhead bins, offered the load limitations are met, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated.

It added that any cargo stowed in passenger compartment must be restrained and no gadgets can be allowed to be stowed in toilets or in opposition to bulkheads which might be incapable of restraining them. Cargo should not be stowed within the passenger compartment the place it’s going to forestall or impede entry to emergency tools or intrude with emergency evacuation, the DGCA famous.

Any cargo on seats or beneath the seats shall be permitted solely after particular permission taken on this regard from the regulator, the round stated. To stow gadgets on seats, the plane operator must submit varied particulars, together with weight limitation of the seat, particulars of the precise field that might be on seat and process that might be adopted to restrain that merchandise on the seat, to the DGCA.

Till now, round 1,600 individuals have been contaminated by Coronavirus and 38 individuals have died attributable to it in India, in accordance with the Union Health Ministry.

“With the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown in the country, there is a demand for cargo operations for transporting medical equipment and essential goods,” the DGCA stated in its round.

India has imposed a 21-day lockdown to curb the unfold of novel coronavirus, and home and worldwide industrial passenger flights have been suspended for this era.

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