Air Partner delivers food aid to CAR
Air Partner recently carried out an urgent lift of nearly 90 tonnes of food items to the Central African Republic on behalf of Ecolog International, a leading integrated service solutions company. The aid was being delivered in support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) Project, which is concerned with the security, humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in the region.
Air Partner arranged the charter of a Boeing 747 freight aircraft direct from Liege in Belgium to Bangui M’Poko International Airport (above), ensuring that the vital food supplies arrived as quickly as possible. Bangui is an extremely challenging airport to access as it is severely underserved by scheduled air services and suffers from a lack of fuel.
However, in consultation with the carrier, Air Partner was able to overcome the logistical challenges and ensure a maximum uplift of nearly 90 tonnes of payload.
Despite the difficult equatorial conditions, the operation ran to time, ensuring that the cargo arrived at the transit site swiftly and successfully. In addition, Air Partner was able to assist and provide additional consultation at the airport of departure in Belgium in order to accommodate almost 50 tonnes of frozen food items, which required temperature controlled storage prior to the flight.
Richard Smith, Director of Freight at Air Partner, commented: “We are delighted that we were able to leverage our extensive experience of arranging time-critical operations to logistically challenging destinations in support of the MINUSCA Project. In circumstances such as these, time is of the essence and ensuring that food supplies reach those in need as quickly as possible is our top priority.”
Air Partner works with many national and international organisations and provides aviation solutions to corporates and governments worldwide, including six of the G8 group of governments, NGOs and aid agencies.
The Company has significant aid and crisis experience. Most recently, Air Partner Freight has transported over 2000 tonnes of medical supplies, humanitarian aid and hospital building supplies in response to the Ebola crisis, as well as 300 tonnes of aid to Nepal in the aftermath of the recent earthquake. In 2013, the Group transported 600 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Philippines when Typhoon Haiyan devastated the region and during the Arab Spring of 2011, which coincided with several natural disasters, Air Partner worked around the clock to evacuate more than 12,000 people from across the Middle East in just six weeks, while also delivering aid to Japan and New Zealand.
Founded in 1961, Air Partner is a global aviation services group that provides worldwide solutions to industry, commerce, governments and private individuals. The Group is structured into four reporting divisions: Commercial Jets, Private Jets, Freight and Baines Simmons.
Air Partner is headquartered alongside Gatwick airport in the UK.
