Air Partner’s Cargo Division recently completed a cargo operation to transport humanitarian aid, including temporary shelters, water purification tablet, blankets and medicine, to people in Gaza. This involved transporting over 280 tonnes of relief items using a Boeing 747-400 aircraft across three flights.
Actions like this involve assessing the operational status of airports, fuel and customs availability, ground security, presence of air traffic control and ground equipment available to turn around an incoming flight with much needed cargo.
“Organising a humanitarian aid mission is a multifaceted process that begins long before any aircraft takes off,” Pierre Van Der Stichele, Vice President of Global Cargo at Air Partner, explained.
“Before any humanitarian mission, Air Partner keeps up to date with world events that could require humanitarian work.
“We remain in contact with relief agencies and NGOs to understand their areas of focus and share information on local knowledge.
“We constantly monitor geo-political instability that might require evacuation flights to get people out of a country when requested but also to bring in much needed humanitarian help and supplies. It can be a two way traffic, getting people out and bringing in help.”
“Once the required level of preparedness is established, we respond to tenders on the invitation and pre-qualification basis from the relief agencies and NGOs, which often require a fast turnaround and which requires Air Partner to have quick access to cargo capacity through its carrier relationships”.
Permissions and priority areas
Delivering aid to conflict zones like Gaza involves navigating complex tensions and dangerous conditions.
As with the majority of humanitarian aid operations, it is not Air Partner’s role to liaise with governments for permission to deliver aid as that is performed by the agencies that employ their services.
In their role, Air Partner assist the carriers they select with the provision of aircraft and flight to allow passage and overflight to reach the final destination. Most cargo charters with cargo destined for Gaza was flown into the northern Egyptian airport called El Arish which is 45 kilometres south of the main entry border post of Rafah in Gaza.
As part of this, they have assisted carriers to fly through the Israeli airspace to reach that airport, which was done by applying for overflight clearances through the Israel Civil Aviation Authority.
“The commodities and areas of priority are determined by the humanitarian agencies who have engaged the company’s services,” Van Der Stichele explained.
“To decide this, the UN and other agencies have staff on the ground in Gaza who relay the requirements and once goods are received, they distribute the freight to local hospitals and population in need.
“According to recent conversations with our clients, the biggest hurdle is getting the freight across the border at the Rafah crossing point, which can take weeks due to multiple Israeli truck on- and offloading and inspection by the Israeli authorities. Due to this timeframe, we have mainly transported dry goods and non-perishable items.”
Collaboration and partnerships
Collaboration with international organisations is crucial for the successful delivery and distribution of aid. Whether that’s working closely with various United Nations agencies, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and USAID to deliver the goods on the ground or carriers to deliver it to the region.
“Our biggest challenge is to convince aircraft operators to operate to a conflict zone as, understandably, the primary concern is the safety of the crew and aircraft,” Van Der Stichele revealed.
“We have overcome this obstacle by liaising with local authorities and relief agencies to provide us and the airline that we have selected a reassuring level of security.”
