Emirates has launched a humanitarian airbridge to transfer critical relief supplies

Last updated on February 13th, 2023 at 01:14 pm

Emirates is creating an airbridge with the International Humanitarian City (IHC) to deliver critical relief supplies, medical items, and equipment to help on-the-ground humanitarian activities and search-and-rescue operations in Turkey and Syria in the wake of recent natural disasters. In coordination with the IHC in Dubai, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will be sending the first shipments of high thermal blankets and family tents on flights EK 121 and EK 117 today. The WHO and WFP will also send their relief cargo of medical supplies and shelter materials.

In the following days, Emirates will deliver more shipments of blankets, tents, shelter kits, torches, water distribution ramps, and trauma and emergency health kits.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Emirates SkyCargo expects to allocate cargo space for around 100 tons of humanitarian aid commodities on its daily flights to Istanbul. The crucial emergency supplies carried by Emirates will subsequently be distributed by local organizations to affected areas in southern Turkey and northern Syria, helping rescuers on the ground and giving desperately needed relief to hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims.

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UAE Humanitarian Aid persists

As part of the UAE’s ‘Gallant Knight/2’ mission to assist the victims of the recent earthquake, Emirati search and rescue teams were able to save two individuals in Turkey. The first was a youngster of 11 years old, while the second was a man in his 50s or 60s.

After over 120 hours entombed in the rubble, the Emirati rescue team fought tirelessly to free the two victims in the province of Kahramanmaraş. Ultimately, they were successful.

The engaged medical personnel have successfully treated the survivors, and they are presently in good health.

Emirates’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, stated, “We stand with the Turkish and Syrian people and are working with experts such as the International Humanitarian City to provide urgent relief to those affected and displaced by the earthquakes and to support the complex recovery efforts on the ground. Emirates has great expertise helping disaster relief operations, and its three daily flights to Istanbul will provide widebody capacity for relief materials and medical supplies. Emirates also supports the UAE’s ongoing humanitarian efforts to assist Turkey and Syria, and Dubai’s position as the world’s biggest international assistance logistics center allows us to reach disaster-stricken areas and the most vulnerable people as swiftly as possible.”

Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, chairman of the Supreme Committee for IHC Supervision, stated: “The IHC is dedicated to providing the impacted populations with the necessary humanitarian help and resources. We are organizing airlifts of essential medical supplies, housing materials, and other relief supplies from the UNHCR, WHO, and WFP to meet the immediate need for assistance in the impacted regions.”

Emirates’s freight business has a long-standing collaboration with the International Rescue Committee (IHC), allowing the airline to distribute humanitarian goods to communities affected by natural disasters, medical catastrophes, worldwide epidemics, and other crises.

In 2020, the airline helped relief operations in Lebanon following the explosions at the Port of Beirut. Emirates will establish a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India in 2021 in order to transfer vital medical and relief supplies to assist India in limiting the COVID-19 epidemic. The previous year, the airline donated cargo space to organizations working with the IHC in order to carry vital equipment and supplies straight to five cities in Pakistan that were ravaged by flooding.

Since 2013, Emirates A380 ferry flights have delivered over 120 tonnes of food and other emergency supplies to individuals in need.

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