Qatar Airways Cargo airfreighted 36 tonnes of medical supplies for UNICEF from Shanghai to Tehran, in Iran.
The cargo, which consisted of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, N95 masks, gowns and coveralls, was transported over several scheduled flights last week.
In total, UNICEF has provided 63 tonnes of PPE items to Iran, part of which have been distributed among health personnel in different provinces, including Gilan, Isfahan, Khouzestan, North Khorasan, Sistan and Balouchistan, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Qom, Tehran and Alborz.
Qatar Airways chief officer cargo, Guillaume Halleux, said: “These are difficult and trying times for the entire world, fighting the pandemic is a global concern and we see it as our shared responsibility to support frontline healthcare workers and impacted regions around the world.”
Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s Supply Division, said: “Collaboration with private sector, governments and partners is critical to overcome the unprecedented logistical challenges posed by COVID-19.
“UNICEF is grateful to Qatar Airways for the generous donation and to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for facilitating the shipment of these vital supplies, in support of Iran’s frontline healthcare workers, children and communities.”
Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker announced in March that the Middle East carrier would provide aircraft to transport donated medical supplies from around the world to Iran.
Since then, Qatar Airways Cargo has transported close to 60 tonnes of cargo to Iran, in addition to the recent UNICEF shipments.
The carrier has also shipped over 80 tonnes of medical supplies donated by Qatar Fund for Development to Rwanda, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Nepal, Albania, Angola, and Congo (DRC).
In addition to operating scheduled freighters and belly-hold passenger flights, the cargo carrier is also utilising passenger aircraft to carry freight only and is also operating special freight charters to maintain vital global supply chains.
The airline has introduced additional cargo capacity to several cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Paris, Amsterdam, Muscat, Kuwait, Delhi, Beijing and Melbourne among others.
The airline continues to operate approximately 175 cargo flights per day.
During the past months, the cargo operator has worked closely with governments and NGOs to transport over 175,000 tonnes of medical and aid supplies to impacted regions around the world on both scheduled and charter services, the equivalent of roughly 1,750 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters.
Freight charters are being operated to multiple countries including China, India, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
