Following organising the first civilian cargo flight into Tacloban last Friday, Air Charter Service worked non-stop over the weekend and managed a further four successful charters there, as well as six into the equally-affected Guiuan, with more planned in the coming days.

Justin Lancaster, group cargo director at ACS, commented: “We now have an AN-12 that is running exclusively for us from Cebu and Davao into Tacloban and Guiuan, easing the backlog of the aid brought in by the larger freighters to these hubs where the warehouses are full. We decided to position the aircraft into the region at our own expense, knowing, from the amount of large cargo aircraft we had flying into Cebu, that it would be needed to get the relief goods to those who needed it as quickly as possible.” Lancaster continued: “We now have five members of ACS staff on the ground liaising with the CAAP, handling agents, the military, the tower and the relief agencies’ staff trying to make sure everything goes to plan.” Air Charter Service has already arranged more than 30 charters into and around the devastated region, moving more than 1,500 tonnes of freight.

ACS AN-12 loading in Cebu.

Gus Mundel, ACS London (second from right) in the ATC Tower at Tacloban.

Air Partner provides provides fuel and further aid in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan

Due to current airport overcrowding in the Philippines some airlines are being diverted to airports where they don’t have fuel agreements in place. Air Partner, which provides refuelling facilities in over 3,000 locations worldwide, has been leveraging its relationships and in-house expertise to provide clients with fuel uplifts in Manila.

Additionally, Air Partner staff based on the ground at Mactan Cebu International Airport, report that while there are no fuelling issues at Cebu, aircraft are only being provided with enough fuel to get out of Cebu to a destination where they can fuel up fully. Most recently a Boeing 747 freighter aircraft was due to land at Cebu (CEB), but due to overcrowding on the ground was diverted. The aircraft had no fuelling agreement setup at Manila, and turned to Air Partner to arrange a 25 tonne fuel uplift.

Paul Walker, from Air Partner’s Fuel division, said, “Fuel supplies in Manila are severely depleted at the moment, and an emergency shutdown of a local refinery has not helped this situation. However, due to the network of relationships that we have developed within Air Partner’s Fuel division, along with extensive in-house expertise, we have been able to assist this client, and organise the aircraft’s refuelling. We will continue to monitor the situation in Manila closely.”

Further Aid Supplies

Air Partner has also confirmed an Antonov AN-124 flew from Europe to Cebu on Sunday to transport 85 tonnes of ground handling equipment to assist the situation on the ground. This includes airport handling equipment such as pallets, tugs, main deck loader, forklift and Hilux vehicles.

The Antonov AN-124

Air Partner has already arranged four Boeing 777 flights and 2 Boeing 747 flights, carrying 600 tonnes of aid, including Land Cruisers, tents, shelter kits and tarpaulins to assist with the aid effort on the ground.

Richard Smith, Air Partner’s Product Director for Freight, said, “We are continuing to work around the clock to get aid supplies to Cebu as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our team on the ground report that aid is now being unloaded straight onto the airport apron, as it awaits onward distribution. The ground handling equipment we sent yesterday is expected to further assist the handling of aid at Cebu work.”

Air Partner’s freight team is currently dealing with ongoing enquiries for transporting emergency aid to the Philippines.

Volga-Dnepr Airlines joins the relief effort delivering urgently-needed humanitarian aid

Volga-Dnepr's IL-76TD-90VD freighter aircraft landed in Lapu-Lapu Airport carrying humanitarian supplies from Denmark and Sweden.

Cargo onboard the flight included generators, tents, food, mobile camps for relief workers, motor transport and water purifiers and was delivered on behalf of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. The flights were operated under the auspices of the SALIS project.

This was Volga-Dnepr’s latest relief flight to help victims of natural disasters in the Philippines. At the beginning of November, the airline carried 26 tons of aid and relief cargo from Changi Airport in Singapore to Lapu-Lapu to help those who suffered in the October 15 earthquake. 485 tents and 150 sheds were transported to the disaster area at the request of air charter broker Chapman Freeborn.