LUFTHANSA Cargo has flown an MD-11 freighter with 80 tons of food and equipment to Dominican Republic's capital of Santo Domingo where it was moved on by truck to the earthquake victims in neighbouring Haiti that shares the island of Hispanioloa

The shipment consists largely of food, medicines and equipment. Since Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti is restricted exclusively to military aircraft, the relief flight will land in Santo Domingo.

The journey from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince takes 15 hours. Further cargo flights are being considered. Additionally, Lufthansa is transporting further aid supplies, especially food, to Miami in the bellyholds of passenger aircraft. These are being shipped to Port-au-Prince on the US military airlift.

"Lufthansa promptly contacted the crisis staff of the German government last week to offer its support," said Lufthansa group chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber. "As a globally active group, we feel duty-bound to help relieve the suffering of the victims in Haiti".

HelpAlliance, the voluntary aid organisation set up by Lufthansa staff in 1999, has opened an account at the Frankfurter Sparkasse 1822, to which donations for the people in Haiti can be sent (account number: 1245639577, sort code: 500 502 01/ ref: "Haiti").

Source: www.schednet.com

National Airlines delivers aid to Haiti quake victims

Jan 21, 2010  LogisticsNATIONAL Airlines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pentagon carrier National Air Cargo, has delivered humanitarian aid to Haiti on behalf of the Belgian and Swiss governments.

A total of 130,000 tons of aid were transported by two planes which departed with equal payloads from two separate locations in Zurich, Switzerland and Ostend, Belgium.

The relief aid included 30 tonnes of cargo donated by the Swiss government that contained specialised kits to help treat the wounded and a kit sufficient to cover the basic health needs of 20,000 people over a period of three months, according to Reuters.

    "These kinds of relief flights are consistent with our company mission of not only supporting our regular customers, but also utilising our expertise in critical situations to aid humanitarian efforts," said National Airlines president Preston Murray.

The carrier said it was able to mobilise its own aircraft to assist in the earthquake relief efforts within two-hours of finalizing the agreements.

"In this situation rapid delivery of cargo can help save lives and ease the Haitian peoples' suffering," said Christopher Alf (Chris Alf), founder of National Air Cargo. "Our staff is dedicated to delivering these supplies as fast as humanly possible."

Source: www.schednet.com