Cargo carrier transported over 50,000,000kg of medical supplies and aid relief in the past month.
Qatar Airways Cargo has increased services around the world, operating freighters and freight-only passenger aircraft to ensure the continuity of global trade and transportation of essential supplies to where they are needed during this critical time. In the past month, the airline has transported over 50,000,000kg of medical and aid supplies to impacted regions around the globe. This equates to roughly 500 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Now, more than ever it is important to support global trade that ensures the supply of essential goods and vital aid worldwide. I am thankful to the airport authorities, ground handlers, cargo agents and governments around the world who have helped us increase our services to fulfill the demand for time-sensitive freight.“I also want to thank many of the long-standing commercial customers that have supported us to prioritize humanitarian relief shipments to badly effected regions over their existing commercial arrangements. We are all in this together and are glad to be of service to communities around the world during this difficult time.”Additional capacity has been introduced to cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Paris, Amsterdam, Muscat, Kuwait, Delhi, Beijing and Melbourne. We also continue to work closely with governments across the globe to operate freighter charters to support State efforts to bring in humanitarian aid and essential supplies.To ensure the safety of our crew and cargo, we have implemented special procedures for ground handling to ensure minimum contact between staff and adherence to social distancing guidelines are met. All of our freighters and passenger aircraft are equipped with face masks, gloves and hand sanitizers for our crew and all the crew and staff are screened regularly. As an airline, Qatar Airways maintains the highest possible hygiene standards, which include the regular disinfection of aircraft, the use of cleaning products recommended by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and robust staff training. Qatar Airways Cargo utilizes its full freighter fleet as per schedule and operates belly-hold cargo flights to destinations where possible.
Skylegs software adds features to help manage COVID-19 requirements
Skylights, flight operations specialists, unveiled the first batch of operational features to help operators combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Free of charge for the Skylegs user community, the first three practical solutions are now online available and in compliance with EASA requirements to reduce the risk of spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Skylights has created a simple and clear ‘Aircraft Disinfected’ Tag for operators as part of the post-flight procedure. Operators select the new tag after a flight to determine who performed the disinfection (crew, handler/third-party or maintenance team). Selecting the tags is a quick and easy process, “and that is how these tools should be; no complicated processes to handle these urgently needed procedures,” said Maxim Schelfhout, managing director, Skylegs. Operators can use Skylegs’ Business Intelligence (BI) to track the disinfection procedures across their fleet. Clear and concise filtering options (i.e. per aircraft, airport, country) are embedded in the BI tool. Visualization where the disinfection process took place is standard to help plan operators’ flights safe and efficiently.“We are aware of the numerous restrictions that need to be considered to operate a flight at this moment. Operators attach the ‘pandemic checklist’ to ensure that conditions are being met before starting the mission,” Maxim Schelfhout said. The checklist includes essential elements, such as consulting authorities websites for implications, checking restrictions on the departure and arrival locations, passengers’ travel history, risk of quarantine and availability of protective gear onboard.
