Five pilots of the national carrier, Air India, who have incidentally undertaken cargo flights to Guangzhou, China recently have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus. These new cases have emerged after 77 Air India pilots were tested for the virus yesterday on a priority basis. Sources confirm that none of the pilots who have been tested positive is found to have any symptoms such as fever, dry cough etc. This had added more woes to the airline’s staff.
According to media reports, the five affected pilots have been operating on Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the last time any of them operated a flight was on April 20. Apart from the pilots, an engineer and a technician of Air India have also been tested positive for coronavirus.
There has been no official update from Air India until now.
Air India has been operating cargo flights to international destinations since the lockdown. Among the flights operated were Boeing 787 flights to Guangzhou from Delhi on April 18 to pick up medical supplies. The airline has also operated medical cargo flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong.
