Airbus, Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and Bolloré Logistics are working together to expedite the distribution of two million face masks to health workers in France and Spain to support medical teams in both countries battling the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The three companies – all headquartered in France – joined forces to support the governmental and healthcare sector response to the Covid-19 crisis. With demand for face masks to help protect healthcare workers, public service employees and the general public from the virus far exceeding supply, Airbus operated one of its own A330-800 passenger aircraft to Tianjin in China to collect the shipment.
Co-ordinated with its logistics partner Bolloré, the Airbus flight returned to Toulouse, where WFS’s cargo handling specialists were ready to offload the cargo swiftly and make the necessary preparations for the masks to reach their final destinations across France and Spain. The WFS team broke down the shipment, immediately despatching masks into the healthcare sector in France as well as repalletising and loading the masks destined to help the relief effort in Spain.
From Toulouse, an Airbus A400M carried face masks to Getafe in Spain, completing the operation on 24 March.
Hugo Rodrigues, VP of cargo at WFS said, “The critical need for face masks to prevent coronavirus infections has led to a global shortage of this essential equipment. It is therefore vital for the air logistics chain to be able to respond immediately when new stocks become available. With our global network of cargo handling stations, we have teams on the ground ready to ensure these life-saving cargoes reach those who need them within just a matter of hours. This is the power of air cargo and demonstrates the vital importance of the entire air cargo supply chain to the global response to the coronavirus. We will be working with Airbus and Bolloré Logistics on more relief flights carrying urgent medical equipment in the coming days. This is a race against time.”