As Spain finds itself in the depths of the COVID-19 outbreak, IAG Cargo and Iberia are using a specially created medical air corridor between Spain, China and Japan to ensure the country is receiving the essential medical supplies it desperately requires.
The Iberia A350s flying between Shanghai and Madrid and Tokyo and Madrid, operate on a tri-weekly schedule. The first of which was successfully completed on 30th March. The initial three batches helped to transport over 90 tonnes of supplies with a special focus on protective materials that are most scarce in public and private hospitals. This included 3 million protective masks alone on the first round-trip.
These essential supplies have been supplemented further with additional shipments arriving into Madrid from Mexico. Since last Thursday, IAG Cargo have brought in 60 tonnes of personal protective equipment from the country spread across several flights.
One of the worst hit nations to date, an increasing number of frontline workers in Spain have already been infected or forced into isolation and delivering these supplies is a critical step in ensuring medical facilities can cope with the crippling and mounting pressure that the virus presents. The shipments from Shanghai and Tokyo have included respirators, testing kits, gowns, gloves, glasses, screens, machinery and raw materials needed to manufacture masks, as well as headboards and footboards for hospital beds.
Created specifically to help decongest and increase supply to Spain during this time, the air corridor spans the entire process, from production centres in China to distribution in Spain. It’s a large-scale operation made possible by the help of FENIN (Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies), the Oesía Group and the four Ministries (Health, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Industry, Commerce and Tourism).
In another, separate, heart-warming display of national solidarity, a group of small Spanish businesses teamed together to acquired 23 ventilators. IAG Cargo were proud to facilitate the ventilators movement from Brussels to equip the intensive care units of five Madrid hospitals.
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