Emirates has set up a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief items.

Emirates will offer cargo capacity free of charge on all of its flights to nine cities in Indiato help international NGOs rapidly deliver relief supplies. Emirates SkyCargo has already been transporting medicines and medical equipment on scheduled and charter cargo flights to India.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman and Chief Executive, in a statement, said: “India and Emirates are deeply connected since our first flights to India in 1985. We stand with the Indian people and will do all we can to help India get back on its feet. Emirates has a lot of experience in humanitarian relief efforts, and with 95 weekly flights to nine destinations in India, we will be offering regular and reliable widebody capacity for relief materials. The International Humanitarian City in Dubai is the largest crisis relief hub in the world, and we will work closely with them to facilitate the movement of urgent medical supplies.”

The first shipment sent as part of the humanitarian airbridge is a consignment of over 12 tonnes of multi-purpose tents from the World Health Organisation (WHO), destined for Delhi, and coordinated by the IHC in Dubai.

The freight division of Emirates has a close partnership with IHC, developed over several years of delivering relief materials to communities across the world impacted by natural disasters and other crises.

Emirates SkyCargo has partnered with UNICEF and other entities in Dubai through the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance to transport Covid-19 vaccines rapidly to developing nations through Dubai. So far, close to 60 million doses of vaccines have been transported on Emirates’ flights, equating to nearly 1 in 20 of all vaccine doses administered around the world.