Friday, May 14, 2021

Virgin Atlantic pilot wins UK PM’s praise for operating relief flight to India

New Delhi: A Virgin Atlantic Indian-origin pilot has won praise from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for operating a relief flight to India. Captain Jaspal Singh had “volunteered to fly 200 donated oxygen concentrators to India to help in the country’s battle against Covid-19,” according to the British PM’s official website.

“Jaspal is also a volunteer with the Sikh charity ‘Khalsa Aid’ which was founded in 1999 with aim of providing relief assistance to victims of disaster, wars and other tragic events, overseas and in the UK, and has been instrumental in ensuring oxygen concentrator machines reach people in need in India in response to the pandemic,” the testimonial reads.

Bedfordshire-based Singh has been awarded “the daily Points of Light award” that recognises outstanding individual volunteers for making a change in their community.

Johnson wrote a personal letter to Jaspal, saying: “Thank you for your enormous contribution to India’s battle against Coronavirus. The British people have stepped up in their thousands to help the people of India in a demonstration of the deep connection between our countries. I was inspired to hear of how you have taken to the skies to deliver hundreds of oxygen cylinders to people in need.”

The British PM’s website quotes Captain Singh as saying: “Having seen the devastating impact of Covid-19 in India, I wanted to do everything within my power to support the cause. It has been amazing to see the generosity of the general public, colleagues, friends and family who have donated much needed oxygen concentrator machines to ‘Khalsa Aid International’. This generosity inspired me to connect with Virgin Atlantic to see if we could enable these machines to reach the people of India, it was then an immense privilege to be able to personally fly these vital oxygen supplies. I have been overwhelmed by the support from donors to Khalsa Aid International and my employer Virgin Atlantic, its people and all their partners.”

14/05/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

0 comments:

Post a Comment