Although passenger flights have been suspended between Hong Kong and India, in the past few weeks Cathay Pacific Cargo has been operating freighters and cargo-only passenger flights, delivering to date more than 100 tonnes of much-needed humanitarian and medical supplies to some of India’s major centres.

These include shipments of specialised oxygen generators, oxygen concentrators and ventilators to Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. In addition, there has been a sharp increase in volumes for shipments of oxygen, surgical masks, sanitiser, personal protective equipment, pharmaceuticals and vaccines over the past few weeks.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Commercial George Edmunds said: “We have been supporting efforts to relieve this current crisis in India through the delivery of medical supplies on our freighters and cargo-only passenger flights. We are noticing a sharp increase in the volume of enquiries from the Americas and closer to home from the Chinese mainland for space for humanitarian aid shipments to India, and we will do our best to accommodate these essential shipments.

“As a consequence, we are looking to maximise capacity by adding more cargo-carrying flights and will continue to work with the Indian authorities to make this possible.” Cathay Pacific Cargo operated 24 pairs of cargo-only passenger flights to India in March and 29 in April to satisfy demand and supplement freighter operations.

With its dedicated Boeing 747 freighter fleet, Cathay Pacific Cargo stands ready to support relief efforts with its capacity to deliver large humanitarian cargo shipments where they are needed and whenever they are required.