New Delhi, Apr 18 (IANS): The Centre on Saturday said that under the Lifeline Udan initiative, 274 flights have transported around 463.15 tonnes of medical supplies across the country till April 17.

"274 flights have been operated under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private carriers. 175 of these flights have been operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Cargo transported till date is around 463.15 tonnes," the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said in a statement.

Besides Air India, Blue Dart, SpiceJet and IndiGo are also operating cargo flights on a commercial basis.

On its part, SpiceJet operated 393 cargo flights from March 24 to April 17. Out of these, 126 were international cargo flights.

Similarly, Blue Dart has operated 134 domestic cargo flights from March 25 to April 17, while budget airline IndiGo has operated 29 cargo flights from April 3-17 carrying 31 tonnes of cargo.

The Lifeline Udan flights connect hubs in locations such as Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Agartala, Aizwal, Dimapur, Imphal, Coimbatore, Thiruvanthapuram, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Ranchi, Port Blair and Goa.

As part of India's war against Covid-19, the Civil Aviation Ministry had launched Lifeline Udan flights on March 26 for movement of medical and essential supplies across the country and beyond.

Currently, no foreign or domestic passenger flight operations are allowed in the country.