meeting the emergency Working free of charge, and in co-operation with the
AS A COMMERCIAL FREIGHTER operator and the exclusive relief partner to the UAE Red Crescent, Abu Dhabi-based Maximus Air Cargo is no stranger to rapid response humanitarian work. Maximus has a fleet of eight all-cargo AN-124-100, A300-600RF, IL- 76TD, and Lockheed Hercules L382G aircraft, flying across the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. In its six years of operations, the airline has
delivered aid to disaster zones such as Pakistan, Sumatra, Haiti and Chad, where a combination of extreme temperatures, lack of rain and bad harvests, coupled with high food prices and endemic unemployment, has forced the population into a state of crisis. Fathi Buhazza, president and CEO of Maximus Air Cargo, is the man behind a unique vision, the formation of ‘Care by Air’, a non-profit initiative to provide at-cost transportation and logistics expertise to help meet the needs of humanitarian organisations. This groundbreaking
Buhazza: “if you have space in your heart, make space in your hold”
initiative from the UAE was launched in 2009, when Maximus Air Cargo joined forces with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), to launch the programme. Supporting members
included the UAE Red Crescent and the United Nations World Food Programme. Buhazza explained: “The ‘at cost’ approach is a
means of doing a good deed and good business simultaneously. By offering cargo space, fuel, warehousing, handling and haulage at cost to a humanitarian organisation, your own costs proportionally go down.” He concluded: “If you have space in your heart, make space in your hold. It’s not charity. It’s a sustainable business
model.”
UN, the first DRT group to arrive in Islamabad handled goods provided through the UN World Food Programme and other contributions being flown into the gateway, remaining in place to facilitate the transportation of goods during the first three weeks of the emergency, until its Asia Pacific counterpart took over the posting.
CHAPMAN FREEBORN REACTS In terms of moving supplies provided by the worldwide response to the flooding into Pakistan, the 32 worldwide offices run by Chapman Freeborn Airchartering were quick off the mark in airlifting an initial 800 tons of relief cargo into the country. Acting to route emergency aid rapidly into Pakistan,
the aircraft charter specialist arranged flights into Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad, Multan and Sukkur from several airports in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Aid agency representatives were active on the ground
at the various locations to ensure prompt distribution of goods to the worst hit areas. Utilising IL-76, IL-96, AN-12, A300, B777 and B747
freighters to deliver emergency supplies including shelter, drinking water, food, medical supplies and relief vehicles, the company has a wide experience of co-ordinating ad hoc and large-scale humanitarian relief air charters for the UN, governments, NGOs and other aid providers. In fact, the Chapman Freeborn spokesman pointed out that nearly every emergency airlift mission in the last 30 years has involved aircraft chartered through Chapman Freeborn.
WORLD CARRIER RESPONSE In the early days of the emergency, Germany’s Lufthansa Cargo Charter organised the movement of 50 tonnes of Dutch medical supplies from Frankfurt to Islamabad for the UN Population Fund to help victims of the floods. The goods were carried on board a Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 freighter from Frankfurt. The aircraft also carried a pallet of water purification tablets provided by Lufthansa Cargo’s own HelpAlliance voluntary aid organisation. Also in Europe, at the request of the Embassy of Pakistan
in Brussels, Luxembourg-based all-cargo carrier Cargolux flew 600 boxes of relief items – including clothes, sheets, shoes and tinned foods – on its B747-400 freighter services from its home hub to Karachi free of charge. Among a long list of other aid efforts, the Emirates
SkyCargo freighter fleet has been operating flights between its Dubai hub and Islamabad over and above its normal schedule. Staff at the carrier have been working overtime to enable the airline to carry smaller shipments from humanitarian aid agencies struggling to get immediate relief to the disaster-stricken region. In one of many moves, Cathay Pacific Airways airlifted 27 tonnes of relief goods from Hanoi and Saigon via the
44 AIR LOGISTICSCHINA
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