Air Partner in Hurricane Irma relief flights

October 7, 2017: Air Partner has carried out a number of urgent freight charters across the Caribbean in recent weeks to support the relief efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Air Partner Freight team was called upon to ensure that essential cargo – such as generators, four-wheel drive vehicles, bottled water and humanitarian aid - reached those affected in the most efficient and time-effective way possible.

Aircraft used ranged from private jets to Antonov AN-124s, one of which was in fact among the first aircraft to land at San Juan Airport in Puerto Rico after it reopened.

The flights were operated on behalf of governments, NGOs, charities and commercial entities to a number of islands in the region, including Puerto Rico, Cuba and Guadeloupe.

Mike Hill, Air Partner’s director of Freight, said, “Air Partner’s Freight team has extensive experience in arranging time-critical air shipments and understand that speed is of the essence in circumstances such as these. Assessing the current state of the airport infrastructure following such hurricane damage is often an important issue, but we worked around the clock to ensure that our customers’ cargo was delivered to those in need as quickly as possible. Our thoughts are with all of those who have been affected.”

Air Partner Freight 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 2015 earthquake.

In 2013, the Group transported 600 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Philippines when Typhoon Haiyan devastated the region. 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.