CORONAVIRUS GLOBAL RESPONSE: EU SETS UP A HUMANITARIAN AIR BRIDGE

EU Humanitarian Air Bridge to serve as a transport of humanitarian workers and emergency supplies for the coronavirus response to some of most critical areas around the world

The flights will be combined, as far as possible, with repatriation flights and the rotation of humanitarian workers. The EC finances 100% of transport costs, while EU countries are responsible for procuring humanitarian material.

The first EU flight, operated in cooperation with France,is departing from Lyon and will transport around 60 humanitarian workers from various NGOs and 13 tonnes of humanitarian cargo. Two subsequent humanitarian cargo flights will follow in the coming days to transport a further 27 tonnes of humanitarian supplies in total. On their return leg, the Air Bridge flights will also bring back EU citizens and other passengers from the Central African Republic in a repatriation effort.

More EU humanitarian flights are being scheduled for the coming weeks, prioritising African countries where the pandemic has the potential to worsen many existing humanitarian crises.

More info in EC press release