Air, Freight News

Corrected: DHL puts team in Vanuatu

[ March 20, 2015   //   Chris ]

Deutsche Post DHL has deployed its first Disaster Response Team (DRT) to support relief efforts in Vanuatu, devastate by Cyclone Pam on 14 March. The team is currently based at Bauerfield International Airport in Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital, to provide airport logistics support to manage incoming international aid and expedite the distribution to those in need. A second DRT team will be deployed on 27 March.

The DRT network consists of over 400 trained DHL volunteers, who can be deployed within 72 hours. Since 2005, the DRTs have been deployed almost 30 times worldwide.

In Port Vila, a DRT of seven experts will provide logistical support free of charge for the movement of relief supplies, including unloading cargo planes, conducting professional warehousing and inventory management, and the loading of the relief goods for onward transportation to Vanuatu’s many islands.

Meanwhile, Delta World Charter (DWC) and Air Partner operated a cargo relief flight on 25 February from Al Maktoum International Airport to Conakry, Guinea to deliver supplies to the Ebola-hit West African country.

Air Partner director of freight, Richard Smith, said: “This was a very challenging task, it was extremely important for us to rapidly get the supplies to Conakry where the Ebola outbreak had been worsening.”

Tags: Air Partner, DHL