· Flight carrying three surplus 18-tonne oxygen generators and 1,000 ventilators due to leave Belfast today in support of India’s fight against Covid-19
· World’s largest cargo plane loaded through the night with life-saving oxygen equipment from UK
· Each oxygen generator produces 500 litres of oxygen per minute and is the size of a 40ft shipping container
The world’s largest cargo plane will leave Belfast this morning, carrying three 18-tonne oxygen generators and 1,000 ventilators as part of the UK’s latest response to India’s Covid-19 crisis.
Airport staff worked through the night to load the life-saving kit, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, aboard the massive Antonov 124 aircraft.
Each of the three oxygen generation units – the size of 40ft freight containers – produces 500 litres of oxygen per minute, enough for 50 people to use at a time. They are expected to reach India on Sunday morning, where the Indian Red Cross will help transfer them to hospitals.
This support, previously announced, is in addition to 200 ventilators and 495 oxygen concentrators, which the UK sent to India in late April.
It comes following discussions with India and a pledge from Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the UK to do all it can to help. The latest assistance package has been sourced by the Department of Health and Social Care and is fully funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The UK is sending surplus oxygen generators from Northern Ireland to India. This life-saving equipment will support the country’s hospitals as they care for vulnerable Covid patients.
“The UK and India are working together to tackle this pandemic. No-one is safe until we are all safe.”