COVID-19: Blue Dart ensures continuity of essential supply chain

News Clip: Times of India

4th April, 2020

Logistics services provider Blue Dart Express on Friday said it is exploring international charter services to support "critical" government requirement for cargo transportation and has deployed its 757 Boeing freighters to ship medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and other essentials across the country in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

In these challenging times, when businesses across sectors sectors and geographies are disrupted due to mobility suspension, Blue Dart has mobilized its 'Business Contingency and Continuity Plan' (BCCP), including pandemic operating plans, the company said in a release.

The company, further said it has operated two new air routes -- Guwahati and Pune -- which are not a part of its normal schedule to ensure that essential deliveries are not disrupted.

"We are working round-the-clock to deliver in a time-bound manner, so that the fight against the pandemic is supplemented and multiplied," Blue Dart Express Ltd Managing Director Balfour Manuel.

Blue Dart is implementing required preventive actions to ensure least disruption in services to domestic businesses, it said, adding, "our QRT - Quick Response Team, is working 24x7 towards mitigating potential impacts while ensuring continuity of the supply chain across the country."

"We are also flying flights as exigencies demand. Additionally, we are exploring international charter to support critical government requirement," he said.

Blue Dart is delivering testing kits, reagents, enzymes, medical equipment (ventilators), N95 respirators and surgical masks, gloves, and other items on the requests of various state governments.

Moreover, some private companies have been using its aviation service to move essential medical supplies, the company said.

Blue Dart Express Ltd offers delivery of consignments to over 35,000 locations in India.