Air India to acquire six lakh PPE kits to ensure passenger safety onboard

New Delhi: National carrier Air India plans to acquire six lakh passenger safety kits comprising face shield, masks and hand sanitisers as the use of such protection gears has now become a requirement for a traveller prior to boarding a flight in times of COVID-19.

The kits are to be procured over a period of six months with the first batch of 50,000 kits will have to be delivered to the carrier within 15 days of the award of the contract, according to the tender document on the Air India website.

“Air India invites price bids for the supply of passenger safety kits, which should consist of three items — face shield, face mask and hand sanitizer (in a sachet of 5 ml) for use by our esteemed passengers,” the airline stated in the document.

The tenders can be submitted by June 18, it said. The supply contract will be 6,00,000 kits, Air India said, adding, “however the requirement may vary depending on actual consumption and accordingly call-offs will be given by the Mumbai-based stores.”

According to the document, the airline can also increase the quantity by 25 percent in the contract/purchase order at the same rate and terms and conditions. At the same time, “Air India has not committed to uplift the quantity” also and may “curtail” the total contract size as well, depending upon the situation, it stated. After the first delivery, the subsequent deliveries of the kits will be in a staggered manner.