Dubai’s Emirates sets up humanitarian airbridge to transport aid to Syria, Türkiye

Dubai-based carrier Emirates is setting up an airbridge with the International Humanitarian City (IHC), to transport emergency aid such as urgent relief supplies, medical items and equipment to Syria and Türkiye, in the wake of devastating earthquakes that jolted the two countries.

The emergency supplies are meant to support on-ground aid efforts as well as search and rescue activities in Syria and Türkiye.

The first shipments are due to go out on Friday, February 10, on flights EK121 and EK117. These include high thermal blankets and family tents from UNHCR and World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as World Food Programme (WFP) relief cargo of medical kits and shelter items, coordinated by the IHC in Dubai.

Additional consignments of materials such as blankets, tents, shelter kits, flash lights, water distribution ramps and trauma and emergency health kits, will be transported on the carrier’s flights in the coming days.

Emirates SkyCargo aims to dedicate cargo space for around 100 tonnes of humanitarian relief goods over the next two weeks across its daily flight operations to Istanbul. The supplies will then be delivered by local organisations to affected areas in southern Türkiye and northern Syria, the carrier said in a statement.

“We stand with the Turkish and Syrian people and are working with experts like the International Humanitarian City to help provide urgent relief to those affected and displaced by the earthquakes, as well as support the complex recovery efforts on the ground,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates’ chairman and chief executive.

The freight division of Emirates has partnered with the IHC to facilitate numerous relief missions in the past, deploying humanitarian supplies to communities around the world impacted by crises.

In 2020, the airline facilitated relief efforts to Lebanon in the aftermath of the Port of Beirut blasts.

A year later, Emirates set up a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief items to support the containing of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Read: Dubai’s Emirates launches India humanitarian airbridge to transport Covid-19 relief items

Last year, the airline offered cargo capacity to organisations working with the IHC to transport critical equipment and supplies directly to five Pakistani cities devastated by flooding.

“The IHC remains committed to providing the people affected by the earthquakes with the humanitarian support and resources they need. We are taking urgent action by facilitating airlifts of vital medical supplies, shelter items and other relief goods from the UNHCR, WHO and WFP to address the pressing demand for aid in the affected regions,” added Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Supervision of IHC.