One hundred Air Canada employee volunteers packed emergency food kits and other response supplies destined for Ukraine.
Air Canada’s Boeing 767-300 freighter aircraft departed Monday night from Toronto to Frankfurt, transporting humanitarian and medical aid on behalf of Airlink, Flexport.org and GlobalMedic. The flight carried aid including medical and trauma supplies, water purification and sanitation kits destined for an area north of Lviv, Ukraine.
After the flight arrives, Airlink’s NGO partner GlobalMedic will have response teams manage the distribution of supplies to treat Ukrainian civilians who have been displaced by the conflict, whose homes have been destroyed, and those injured, expanding the capacity of hospitals in border regions to provide care.
“Together with our employees, we are humbled to continue our support for the people affected by the Ukraine crisis. Air Canada employees packed emergency family food kits which are being sent by GlobalMedic, and we are proud to use our freighter to transport 50 tonnes of aid which includes these important response tools together with critical medical and humanitarian supplies for Airlink and Flexport.org quickly to Europe. Airlink’s and GlobalMedic’s infrastructure and teams on the ground meeting our flight then ensure that the shipments get to their destinations right after our flight arrives,” said Jason Berry, Vice President, Cargo at Air Canada.
Non-profit disaster logistics expert Airlink exists to help remove the cost of air transportation as a barrier to NGOs responding to disasters and other humanitarian crises. It was able to use its long-term partnership with Air Canada, the coordination provided by the Flexport platform, and support from donors, to secure the cargo-only flight making the delivery of this shipment possible. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Airlink has transported more than 135 tonnes of aid and 221 relief workers for 20 non-profit organizations providing medical care, food, mental health counselling, clean water, and other essentials to Ukrainian refugees.
The second humanitarian cargo flight is Air Canada’s most recent initiative supporting the crisis in Ukraine.
