 "IAF's 'Kargil Courier' airlifted over 3,000 stranded passengers this winter")
The Indian Air Force's 'Kargil Courier' service airlifted over 3,000 stranded passengers during the closure of the 434-kilometre-long Srinagar-Leh National Highway this winter, an official said on Tuesday.
The 'Kargil Courier' service started from January 18.
In all, 3,228 passengers availed the services of the AN-32 and the IL-76 aircraft provided by the Indian Air Force for the residents of Ladakh, the official said.
Among them, 39 passengers were airlifted from Jammu to Kargil in an AN-32 sortie on Tuesday, he said.
While the AN-32 aircraft operated between Kargil and the twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar, IL-76 sorties were arranged between Srinagar-Leh and Jammu-Leh for stranded passengers, the official said.
In addition, several hundred stranded passengers were airlifted from Chandigarh to Leh in the IL-76 aircraft on the personal intervention of Ladakh Lt Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra, he added.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)