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  4. Virgin Atlantic delivers vital oxygen supplies to India
  • Airline will fly 200 boxes of oxygen concentrators to Delhi on Saturday 1st May 
  • Further cargo space will be given free of charge on Virgin Atlantic flights to India for the next week, in association with The Red Cross
  • Internal fundraising efforts have so far raised over £13,000 in just three days

Virgin Atlantic has partnered with Khalsa Aid to deliver over 200 boxes of oxygen concentrators to Delhi, India. The concentrators will be onboard the VS300 flying at 20:15 on Saturday 30 April from London Heathrow to Delhi.

Following the success of this first flight, the airline has subsequently offered support to the Indian Government on its flights to India next week, opening up space to carry further oxygen concentrators. An oxygen concentrator is a device that concentrates the oxygen from a gas supply by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen- enriched product gas stream.

Senior First Officer Jas Singh will be flying the essential medical supplies out to India this Saturday, and was instrumental in partnering with Khalsa Aid. Jas worked alongside the airline’s leadership team to secure space to carry the oxygen supplies.

Simultaneously, Virgin Atlantic Training Captain Chris Hall steered an internal campaign to raise funds to obtain further oxygen concentrators. Colleagues and friends of the airline have so far raised over £13,000 in just three days. The airline plans to secure additional vital oxygen aid for The Red Cross, and is encouraging people to donate at https://gofund.me/091dbb9a. The Virgin Atlantic Foundation has also committed to a donation to Save The Children’s Emergency Fund for the current Covid-19 crisis in India.

 

Jas Singh, Senior First Officer at Virgin Atlantic commented:

“Having seen the escalating situation in India, I wanted to do everything within my power to support the cause. I was scheduled to fly out this Saturday and so got in touch with Khalsa Aid to see if we could carry the oxygen concentrators they had been crowd sourcing to purchase. It has been awe inspiring to see the generosity of my colleagues, friends and family.”

 

Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director of Cargo at Virgin Atlantic commented:

“We have been overwhelmed with offers of support from our people and our suppliers. Following the success of crowd funding work by Jas Singh and Chris Hall, we are immensely proud to be able to support India at this time. Virgin Atlantic Cargo has supported Covid-19 relief efforts throughout the pandemic, successfully partnering with the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS bringing over 8 million kilos of essential medical equipment, supplies and PPE into the UK.”