U.N. launches coronavirus aid flights to vulnerable developing countries

The United Nations World Food Program on Thursday sent a plane loaded with medical equipment to be distributed to developing countries especially vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to ramp up the service to 350 flights per month.

WFP has launched a network of global logistics hubs to support developing countries amid the COVID-19 outbreak by dispatching vital medical and humanitarian supplies.

Late Thursday, a Boeing 757 cargo flight departed from the newly-established hub in Belgium’s Liège, carrying almost 16 tonnes of supplies that included face masks and gloves for the West African countries of Burkina Faso and Ghana. Some of the cargo will then be sent to the Republic of Congo.

Under WFP’s “hub-and-spokes” system, hubs located in Liège, Dubai, and China will link to regional hubs in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malaysia, Panama, Dubai, and South Africa, where a fleet of smaller aircraft will be responsible to transport personnel and humanitarian cargo to priority countries.

WFP said it expects to deliver such supplies to 130 countries around the world over the next six weeks, with the aim to run up to 350 cargo and another 350 passenger flights every month.

While Thursday’s flight was the first departing from WFP’s new hub in Liège, more than 300 tonnes of humanitarian and medical cargo have been sent to 89 countries since late January to contribute to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.