Virgin And British Airways Covid-19 Missions

With Virgin Atlantic delivering vital Covid-19 PPE for the National Health Service and British Airways repatriating thousands of travellers from India its been quite a busy period.

Virgin Atlantic has delivered 3.5 million items of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies to the UK from China

In partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS, Virgin Atlantic has so far operated five cargo-only flights from Shanghai to London Heathrow, bringing 80 tonnes of medical equipment, supplies and PPE, transported in 8,000 boxes, carrying over 3.5 million individual items.

Special rulings from the CAA allow cargo to be flown in the cabin of this Virgin 787 Dreamliner.

British Airways has already flown back thousands of travellers as part of 65 rescue flights which have either operated or are planned to operate in the coming days from destinations across the globe.

This has been done through agreements with travel operators including cruise companies and national authorities.  As well as part of a continued effort between British Airways and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) to bring people home from cities all over the world.

Virgin and British Airways Flying for the NHS

The airline is also carrying hundreds of tonnes of essential supplies including medicines and personal protective equipment (PPE) to the UK through IAG Cargo. More flights from the UK to India are continuing this week.

British Airways 777 in Delhi picking up passengers and cargo. Both Virgin and British Airways are working on this.

Today (Tuesday 21st April) the airline is operating another 26-hour round trip between London Heathrow and Shanghai, with flight VS251 arriving from China this afternoon. Stowed on board are tonnes of crucial medical supplies and PPE, in the cargo hold of the Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and also on the seats in the cabin, following special dispensation from the CAA.

During April, Virgin Atlantic is operating a total of eight cargo-only flights from Shanghai, transporting over 100 tonnes of crucial medical supplies – to be distributed evenly across the UK to NHS frontline heroes dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.

Virgin and British Airways both bringing in vital cargo.

Crewed by seven pilots and four cabin crew, who rotate duties and rest time, each flight carries an average of 16 tonnes of essential items to keep NHS heroes working on the frontline safe and support patients who are in great need.

Since the beginning of April cargo has included 50 ventilators, 1.8 million face masks, 600,000 face shields and visors, 1 million disposable gloves, 38,000 items for eye protection, and 75,000 protective coveralls and isolation gowns.

Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “We’re hugely grateful to the NHS health and care workers who are working so hard to help the nation and respond to the Covid-19 crisis.

Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo

“Working closely with the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care, Virgin Atlantic is transporting over 100 tonnes of crucial medical supplies and PPE in to the UK on special cargo charter flights from Shanghai this month, through Heathrow airport. Special dispensation from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) means that we can store cargo in the cabin as well as the cargo hold, ensuring even more essential medical supplies can reach the UK this week and be distributed by the NHS to frontline staff.”

Flying in from Shanghai more NHS PPE to fight Covid-19.

In India British Airways is serving 11 airports across the country with special flight departures over a period of two weeks.

One passenger returning to UK after weeks stuck in India.

Flights are taking off from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and the airline has also extended its operation to serve additional cities which include Goa, Amritsar, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

The repatriation effort has been a collaboration between the UK and Indian Government authorities, British Airways and the airport teams in both Britain and India.

CEO and Chairman of British Airways Alex Cruz

Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO, said: “It is an honour to support the government’s repatriation efforts and keep a small fleet of aircraft flying to bring stranded Britons back to the UK. When families step foot on board our aircraft and tell us how emotional it feels to be coming home, it reminds us why the job we are doing is still so important. We are hugely proud of our colleagues who continue to work with such dedication and commitment through this crisis to fly people and essential supplies across the world.”

Virgin and British Airways on their mission too!

The Foreign Office’s Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, said: “We know this is a difficult time for British travellers in India and we are pleased to have partnered with airlines, including British Airways, to get them home.

“This is a huge and logistically-complex operation, and we are working tirelessly with the Indian Government and state authorities to help more British travellers get home.”