Aviation for Good calls on UK aerospace industry to support humanitarian flights

Aviation for Good has launched its first two humanitarian projects and is inviting organisations across the UK aerospace industry to help deliver flights supporting healthcare and essential infrastructure in isolated communities.

The charity’s first campaign will help surgeons and volunteer medical teams reach people living with preventable blindness in remote areas of Africa. Cataract surgery can take as little as 15 minutes, but poor roads and limited transport links can place treatment beyond the reach of many patients.

Its second project will support the reconstruction of a bridge destroyed by a cyclone earlier this year. The lost crossing has left a community isolated, preventing children from reaching school and restricting access to essential services.

Aircraft will transport engineers, personnel, equipment and construction materials into the area so the bridge can be rebuilt.

Connecting industry with humanitarian operators

Aviation for Good will not own aircraft or operate flights. Instead, it will raise funding and support from aerospace companies and individuals, working with established humanitarian aviation organisations that already have the aircraft, pilots and local knowledge required.

“We’re not planning to become an airline,” said Aviation for Good chair Rachel Gardner-Poole OBE. “We are a fundraising charity working with partners that already have the aircraft and the operational expertise.”

Humanitarian operators commonly use versatile light aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan and Cessna 206. Able to operate from short, unpaved airstrips, their cabins can be configured to carry medical teams, patients, engineers or essential supplies.

The charity plans to confirm its delivery partners when the campaigns and its new website go live.

How ADS members can help

Aviation for Good was created following conversations with more than 50 senior industry leaders. These discussions revealed strong interest in supporting humanitarian work, but also uncertainty about how companies could contribute to credible, clearly defined projects.

The charity aims to bridge that gap by connecting aerospace organisations with specific missions and providing a framework through which their social impact can be measured.

It is initially seeking five founding partners, each contributing at least £10,000. ADS members can also support individual campaigns, organise fundraising activities, offer professional expertise, become ambassadors or promote the charity through their networks.

“We’re not competing with the operational charities, and we never intend to,” Gardner-Poole said. “We are raising awareness, bringing the aerospace industry into this work and providing a framework that makes it easier for organisations to contribute.”

Kerissa Khan, an Aviation for Good trustee and former president of the Royal Aeronautical Society, said humanitarian flying demonstrates aviation’s ability to connect people with healthcare, safety and opportunity.

“Some of aviation’s most important flights are rarely seen,” she said. “For those they reach, they can provide the only access to medical care, food, safety and other essential supplies.”

Future campaigns under consideration include medical flights for children in South Sudan, aviation safety projects and missions supporting access to education and technical training.