IAG’s new air corridor aims medical supplies at Spain

IAG Cargo and Iberia are using a specially created medical air corridor between Spain, China and Japan, as Spain finds itself in the depths of the COVID-19 outbreak, to ensure the country is receiving the essential medical supplies it desperately requires.

The Iberia A350s flying between Shanghai and Madrid and Tokyo and Madrid, operate on a tri-weekly schedule. The first of which was successfully completed on March 30. The initial three batches transported over 90 tonnes of supplies with a special focus on protective materials that are most scarce in public and private hospitals. This included 3 million protective masks alone on the first round-trip.

These essential supplies have been supplemented further with additional shipments arriving into Madrid from Mexico. Since last Thursday, IAG Cargo has brought in 60 tonnes of personal protective equipment from the country spread across several flights.

The shipments from Shanghai and Tokyo have included respirators, testing kits, gowns, gloves, glasses, screens, machinery and raw materials needed to manufacture masks, as well as headboards and footboards for hospital beds.

Created specifically to help decongest and increase supply to Spain during this time, the air corridor spans the entire process, from production centres in China to distribution in Spain. It’s a large-scale operation made possible by the help of FENIN (Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies), the Oesía Group and the four Ministries (Health, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Industry, Commerce and Tourism).

In another event, a group of small Spanish businesses teamed together to acquire 23 ventilators. IAG Cargo resourcefully facilitated the ventilators movement from Brussels to equip the intensive care units of five Madrid hospitals.