IndiGo operates India’s first cargo-on-seats international flight to Abu Dhabi

April 18, 2020: The Indian airline, IndiGo today operated the country’s first-ever cargo-on-seats international flight from Kochi to Abu Dhabi. The aircraft transported fresh vegetables and other supermarket supplies for Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, IndiGo’s inaugural cargo-on-seats flight operated domestically on Thursday (April,16) from Delhi to Kochi carrying medical supplies for government. Besides this, SpiceJet is the only Indian airline that has transported cargo in passenger cabin tied them to the seats.

Though on April 1, 2020, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) allowed airlines to use their passenger flights and even their main cabin to move freight, it has some strict guidelines about what to carry on seats. The guidelines don’t permit the transportation of dangerous goods or marine products on the seats, while perishables including vegetables and fruits are allowed.

The airlines, including Air India, has been already flying their grounded passenger flights using belly space both for the government and on a commercial basis.