Srinagar: Srinagar Airport would witness another private cargo aircraft arriving today amid the Covid-19 lockdown and pandemic shutting air traffic.
This would be second flight operated by commercial airline SpiceJet to Srinagar after its maiden flight carrying medicine besides essential commodities arrived on Wednesday, a senior executive said.
Irfan Hussain Kanth Regional Manager, North India, Sales and Operations SpiceJet Cargo told Kashmir Reader that the flight is scheduled for today.
“Only cargo is allowed. Tomorrow (Friday) again our flight is scheduled,” he said.
According to him, they can increase frequency of cargo flights if they have freight from the Valley as well.
During the current season every year, Kashmir would export tonnes of peas, cherry and plum. Given that they are perishable items, Spicejet would carry between 10-15 tonnes of peas from Srinagar to different metropolitan cities especially Bangalore and Chennai.
It would be a major business for airliners as well. But this year, the Covid-19 lockdown and pandemic has stalled it as air traffic remains suspended since March 25. The government has ordered suspension of commercial flight operations across the country since then.
Kanth said that they are ready to provide services and double the cargo flight frequency if they get some help from the government. “We want the government to tie up with agents/coordinators for sending crop including peas and cherry. We can even increase flights so that the crop reaches to its destination in time,” he said.
According to him, the government should reach out to farmers so that the crop is dispatched on priority to avoid losses to farmers.
“During peak season, 30 tonnes of peas were sent a day. If this doesn’t reach in time, it would incur huge loss to farmers. The government should reach out to farmers as coordinators with which we were in touch are not available due to Covid-19 pandemic,” Kanth added.

Reader correspondent