LATAM completes delivery of 240 million masks for Brazil govt

The last of LATAM Cargo’s 39 flights carried out since May arrived in São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport.

LATAM Cargo’s flight number 39 concludes the unprecedented mega-operation between the Ministry of Infrastructure and LATAM. The last flight arrived in Brazil on Sunday night, July 19.

The operation began in May and LATAM was responsible for transporting 240 million N95 surgical masks into Brazil. They were acquired by the Federal Government in order to try to combat Covid-19. These over one thousand tonnes of equipment have been distributed among health professionals in the 27 federal units.

Flight JJ 9553, coming from Guangzhou (China), arrived in São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, carrying 3.7 million N95 masks. This was the last shipment containing cargo purchased by the Ministry of Health and delivered by the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Boeing 777 passenger aircraft were used to transport these N95 masks, the most adequate for health professionals’ protection from the new coronavirus. Cargo was transported in the aircraft’s bellies and, in addition, the cabins were also adapted to carry 5,880 boxes.

In order to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, during March the Ministry of Infrastructure developed a logistics and distribution plan supported by the Ministry of Health and state and local governments. The national plan included actions to enable the arrival of these imported goods, conversations with airport government agencies to prioritise customs clearance, and measures to support equipment distribution among the states.