Alitalia has organised, in coordination with the Italian Department of Civil Protection, the first of a series of cargo flights from China with the purpose of transporting medical equipment necessary for Italian hospitals to manage the Covid-19 emergency.
For this first humanitarian flight, an Alitalia’s Boeing 777-300ER, the aircraft with the largest cargo capacity among the Airline’s fleet, will take off to Shanghai next Wednesday and return to Rome on Thursday 26 March with 160 cubic meters of medical supplies stowed, including approximately 3 million of protective face masks.
The delegation comprising 37 Cuban medical doctors and 15 hospital nurses has landed yesterday at 18.10 in Milan Malpensa airport. Alitalia had organised the trip of the medical team from Havana to Italy, accepting the request of the Italian Prime Minister and the Department of Civil Protection.
This week, the carrier will operate three special flights, utilising Boeing 777s, to and from Shanghai via Novosibirsk, Siberia.
The second of the three special flights, inbound from China, will land at Rome Fiumicino airport on April 2 with more than 120 cubic meters of medical supplies onboard. Cargo on the aircraft includes 1.2 million protective face masks and dozens of respirators for Italy’s intensive care units.
Alitalia is also working with the Crisis Unit of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organise special flights to bring home Italian nationals who have not been able to fly home because of coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
