Emirates Airlines inaugurates a humanitarian air bridge to transport urgent relief items to India

Emirates Airlines launched a humanitarian air bridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief supplies, to support India's efforts in its battle to control the dangerous situation of "Covid-19" in the country.

Emirates Airlines will provide free "as-available" cargo capacity on all its flights from Dubai to nine cities in India, to help international NGOs quickly get relief supplies to where they are most needed.

In the past few weeks, Emirates SkyCargo has transported medicines and medical equipment on regular and chartered cargo flights to India.

The recent airlift initiative reinforces the support Emirates is providing to India and the efforts of non-governmental organizations.

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Supreme President and CEO of Emirates Airlines and the Group, affirmed that Emirates stands with the Indian people and is doing its best to help India get back on its feet.

His Highness said, "We have close ties with India since we launched our first trips to India in 1985. We have great experience in humanitarian relief efforts, and with our 95 weekly flights to 9 destinations in India, we offer a large, regular and reliable capacity to transport relief items." In close cooperation with the International Humanitarian City in Dubai, which is the largest crisis relief center in the world, to facilitate and accelerate the movement of urgent medical supplies.

The weight of the first shipment as part of the Emirates Airlines humanitarian bridge to India was 12 tons of multi-purpose tents. It was provided by the World Health Organization in coordination with the International Humanitarian City in Dubai, and it was transferred to the capital, Delhi.

Giuseppe Saba, Executive Director of the International Humanitarian City, said: “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (may God protect him) established the International Humanitarian City, and thus Dubai, in coordination with humanitarian agencies, is able to help communities and families most in need in the world. The humanitarian airlift between Dubai and India, facilitated by the Emirates Air Cargo, the International City and the United Nations agencies, to transport urgent medical and relief materials, is another example of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s vision of this humanitarian edifice. Last year, more than 1,292 shipments were sent from The International Humanitarian City in Dubai, which has set a standard for humanitarian response worldwide, and we highly appreciate the great efforts made by our partner Emirates Air Cargo, to establish this humanitarian air bridge between Dubai and India in these difficult circumstances.

Emirates Airlines' cargo division has a close partnership with IHC that has developed over several years to deliver relief items to communities affected by natural disasters and other crises around the world.

The International Humanitarian City will support Emirates SkyCargo in directing relief efforts to India via the airlift.

Emirates Airlines has used its expertise in humanitarian logistics to establish an air bridge to Lebanon to assist in relief efforts, following the Beirut port bombing in August 2020.

Emirates Airlines has led the aviation and air cargo industry in its efforts to help markets around the world fight the COVID-19 pandemic. It helped urgently move thousands of tons of required PPE and other medical supplies across six continents over the past year, by rapidly adjusting its business model and introducing additional cargo capacity using "modified small cargo planes" (Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft. Economy class seats have been removed from them), in addition to loading goods on the seats and in the overhead bins of passenger aircraft to transport urgently needed items.

In addition, "Emirates SkyCargo" has partnered with UNICEF and other entities in Dubai in launching a logistical initiative to quickly transport "Covid-19" vaccines to developing countries via Dubai.

Emirates Airlines has so far transported about 60 million doses of "Covid-19" vaccines on its flights, equivalent to one in every 20 doses of all the vaccine doses that have been given worldwide.

Through its regular cargo flights to about 140 destinations across six continents, Emirates Airlines helps maintain the uninterrupted continuity of supply chains of vital commodities, such as medical and food supplies.

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