The Airport Authority of India (AAI) inaugurated a new ‘ambulift’ (ambulance lift) facility at Rajkot Airport on Saturday to assist passengers with mobility problems, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
To help Divyang passengers to board the main decks of all types of aircraft, AAI has equipped 14 airports across the country with ambulifts to facilitate passengers with reduced mobility under the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan).
The facility is presently operational at 14 airports namely Dehradun, Gorakhpur, Patna, Bagdogra, Darbhanga, Imphal, Vijayawada, Port Blair, Jodhpur, Belgaum, Silchar, Jharsuguda, Rajkot, Hubli. It is likely to be operational at Dimapur, Jorhat, Leh, Jamnagar, Bhuj, and Kanpur airports by the end of this month.
The ambulifts can cater to six wheelchairs and two stretchers with an attendant at a time and are fitted with Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning system.
The initiative taken up by AAI under the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) of the Government of India will provide convenient air travel to flyers with reduced mobility and also help ‘Divyangjan’ at airports where aerobridge facility is not available.
AAI has purchased 20 ambulifts for airports that have scheduled flights of Code C and other advanced level aircraft but lack aerobridge facilities. According to the ministry, the ambulift was made in India under the ‘Make in India’ policy.
The AAI procured the ambulift facility at a cost of Rs 63 lakhs per unit and is providing it at a nominal token charge to the operating airlines at its airports, according to the ministry.