WASHINGTON — The first flight for 2015 of Airlink’s Air Bridge to West Africa flew from Miami and landed in Liberia on January 12, delivering critical medical supplies comprised of personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitation supplies. These supplies will enable nineteen Liberian public hospitals that were partially or fully closed due to lack of training with proper protective supplies amidst the Ebola crisis to resume regular operations.
“The continuation of our Air Bridge operations into 2015 is a testament to the key role that Airlink is playing in the ongoing initiative to help provide aid for Ebola relief in West Africa,” commented Steve Smith, Executive Director of Airlink. “By continuing to consolidate NGO aid cargo supported by reliable logistics, we are able to streamline the delivery of aid and proactively participate in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus at its source.”
Airlink airline partner Western Global Airlines LLC operated the flight. The medical supplies were flown on behalf of nonprofit partner the Academic Consortium to Combat Ebola in Liberia (ACCEL), a network of academic centers with technical expertise in emergency medicine and logistics systems that includes the MIT Humanitarian Response Lab, part of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. As with Airlink’s Air Bridge, the Consortium is funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
This delivery marks the ninth flight of Airlink’s Ebola Air Bridge to West Africa, which delivered nearly 1,200,000 pounds of cargo in 2014 to help fight the disease. Airlink remains in the forefront of helping the aviation community and NGOs utilize air transportation to deliver humanitarian aid across the globe.
