The Kolkata airport authorities today announced that a green corridor was created at the airport to facilitate transportation of a human organ
from Kolkata to Hyderabad, by air.
A senior airport official confirmed that the organ, a human lung, was transported from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport to Hyderabad by an AirAsia flight I5510. The aircraft, an Airbus A320, departed from Kolkata at 04:49 hours.
The official explained that that the corridor was created by giving it the utmost priority in clearances in security check and while boarding the flight.
It is learnt that the family members of Piyush Kanti Ghoshal, who was declared brain-dead by doctors, decided to donate his vital organs.
A resident of Uttarpara, Mr Ghoshal was taken to a local doctor on Friday. Medical reports detected brain tumour and the patient was promptly shifted to Institute of Neuro Sciences in Kolkata. On Sunday, doctors declared him
brain dead.
In the dead of night on Sunday, a green corridor was created and his kidneys were carried to SSKM hospital, the cornea to Shankar Netralaya, while the lungs were carried in the special AirAsia flight to the KIMS hospital in Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata airport authorities today announced that the airport today had a total of 62 scheduled flights including arrival and departure.
It asked passengers to check with the airlines for any changes in schedule. An airport official said the airport has been witnessing increased number of flights and wish to maintain this frequency.
As per Airports Authority of India (AAI), Kolkata airport has managed 3,662 flights in July, during current times of curtailed domestic travel while the passenger footfall at the airport in July was near three lakhs.