Airlink’s Ukraine air bridge was started over two years ago and, in that time, has delivered more than 43,000 GlobalMedic Family Emergency Kits, an ingenious and cost-effective way to provide clean drinking water to families impacted by disasters. These kits have been delivered to Ukraine and displaced Ukrainians in Moldova and Romania. 

The Ukraine Airbridge is a partnership developed and managed by Airlink, with support from Airlink donors and partners Flexport.org and Air Canada.

With our partnership model of operations, Airlink has established airbridges in previous disasters. The essential benefit of an airbridge is that it affords NGOs predictability in transport, which allows them to plan and budget for the purchase of aid. This leads to a significant scaling up of operations to meet large-scale population-wide needs. In past disasters where Airlink has operated an airbridge, communities in need received critical life-saving supplies quickly, on a reliable schedule and in greater quantities than if the NGO had bought a transport solution on the open market.

The key to standing up an airbridge is reliable corporate partners willing to help fund it over a sustained period. Collaboration and partnership is key. In this case, we turned to our long-time partners, Flexport.org and Air Canada.

Andrew Williams