Business, Freight News

Plan now for Syria, urges air charter chief

[ August 17, 2012   //   Chris ]

Any future relief effort to Syria promises to be difficult and complicated and air operators would need as much early information as possible, said the boss of one of the world’s leading charter operators.

Air Partner chief executive, Mark Briffa, said: “Significant aid and international support will be needed in Syria.  However, the situation may well deteriorate further, before there is any chance of it improving, and that will make providing help even more complicated.”

He added that the lesson learned during last year’s Arab Spring – when Air Partner played an active part in rescue and aid missions – was that Governments, NGOs and aid organisations should have “an early, confidential conversation with us”. This would yield the quickest result should their mission go live.”

“It’s still high summer in Europe and operators are looking to maximize flying time in a tough operating environment – so any notice ahead of a project or mission, could save time at the get go – when specific planes are needed at short notice,” Briffa explained.

“In Libya, all normal communications and aviation practices broke down.  The combination of Air Partner’s extensive broking experience, and the forward planning team’s specialist knowledge, meant that we were able to respond swiftly to source aircraft and move personnel out of harm’s way, in spite of challenging operational circumstances.”

 

Tags: Syria