Emirates, a long-haul airline based in Dubai, announced on Sunday, that it will begin shipping free aid to India from the World Health Organization and other organizations, to aid in the battle against the coronavirus epidemic. Emirates’ bid, which has 95 weekly flights to nine Indian cities, initially focuses on assistance already available in Dubai, though it can extend through the carrier’s network as time goes on. Since airfreight prices have skyrocketed as a result of the pandemic, this may mean significant savings for help organizations. The global demand for flown cargo is at an all-time high.
Emirates announced the establishment of Dubai’s International Humanitarian City, which already houses a WHO warehouse, that is critical to the global delivery of medical supplies. In preparation for the initial flight scheduled for Thursday, a WHO worker on a forklift pushed boxes of tents manufactured in Pakistan and rolls of net shades from South Korea. This money would be used to construct field hospitals for India’s overburdened health care system.
Nabil Sultan, Emirates Sky Cargo’s divisional senior vice president, said the first priority would be to ship help out of Dubai rather than somewhere else on the network. Though air freight costs are at all-time highs, Sultan believes that providing free shipping for assistance to India now is critical for an airline that has flown to the South Asian nation since 1985. “Our relationship with India, in particular, goes back a long way, and I think it’s critical at times like this that we make sure the important commodities go to India and the Indian people,” Sultan told The Associated Press. “Now is the time to pay it forward.”
Emirates and its base of Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international transport, have risen in economic strength alongside India. The airline is a vital element in the East-West travel chain. The number of passengers flying Emirates from India increased from just under 3 million in 2008 to 5.5 million a decade later. That’s around 10% of Emirates’ total annual passenger load, with more coming from the subcontinent’s neighboring countries. Millions of Indians remain in the United Arab Emirates and make up a significant part of the workforce.
Then the pandemic, and the fierce epidemic that is now raging through India. Since February, infection rates have risen sharply, fueled by variants and the government’s approval of large crowds attending religious festivities and political rallies. India registered over 400,000 new cases and over 4,000 deaths on Saturday alone. India has recorded 21.8 million cases and nearly 240,000 deaths since the pandemic started, though analysts believe that those numbers are likely underestimates.
In late April, the UAE banned inbound passenger flights from India, while cargo flights continued and passenger planes returned with empty seats. As oxygen remains in short supply for those gasping for air in the throes of the infection, Emirates has already begun bringing in masks, gloves, and other safety clothing, as well as diffusers, Sultan said. Sultan said the airline will consider expanding the programme to include shipments coming from outside of Dubai, as the Indian diaspora seeks to bring in more assistance. Working with organizations already based in Dubai means that they have the proper documents and connections in place, to guarantee that the most critical assistance reaches the people who need it the most, he said.
“We will be looking at a number of ways for people to kind of donate if they wish, where we will provide ability to certain types of donations and carry them to India,” Sultan said. All of this comes as air freight reaches new highs after pandemic-related flights were suspended across the world. In March, the International Air Transport Association, an industry trade group, recorded the highest rate of demand ever as the global economy started to improve. The WHO’s emergency operation in Dubai is overseen by Robert Blanchard, who thanked Emirates for providing free cargo flights. With just eight employees, his warehouse manages to juggle help with the coronavirus while still shipping out equipment for cholera and Ebola outbreaks. He cautioned that, while countries in the West and the United Arab Emirates had easier access to vaccinations, India’s situation serves as a message to the rest of the world.
