New Delhi, Jul 15 (IANS): The capital's IGI Airport handled more than 20 million pieces of essential medical supplies during the first quarter of the financial year 2021, the airport operator said on Wednesday.

According to Delhi International Airport Limited, this was the largest volume of essential medical supplies handled by any airport in India.

"While the country was under lockdown, Delhi Airport operated by GMR Airports was working 24X7 as a nerve center for handling Covid-19 medical essential supplies through imports and channelling the distribution across the country," the company said in a statement.

"The medical kits contained: Facemasks - 10.3 million, Gloves - 6.2 million, Goggles - 4.9 million, Body suits - 1.9 million, Shoe covers - 1.4 million, 250 ventilators etc."

Accordingly, dedicated teams operated the cargo terminal and set up a 3,800 sq metre facility within a record time of 7 days to handle Covid-related medical essentials, the statement said.

"Delhi Airport has recorded highest volume of air cargo in India during last three months," the statement said.

"In the month of June 2020, Delhi Airport recorded 1,850 cargo freighter aircraft movements, which is the highest in the country. This comprises of 1,091 scheduled and 759 non-scheduled freighter movements."

In addition to essential medical supplies, Delhi Airport also acted as a hub for ‘Krishi Udan'.

"The first consignment of fresh vegetables from Varanasi was carried by the British Airways on Delhi-London lane on April 23, 2020 with the support from Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, GOI and Ministry of Civil Aviation," the statement said.

"Three metric tonnes of mangoes from orchards around Lucknow was sent to Dubai by Air India Express flight on 4th June 2020."