BA supplies 747 to take aid to the Philippines
British Airways and its sister airlines have joined the Typhoon Haiyan emergency effort by supplying aircraft to take aid to the Philippines.
A Boeing 747 freighter with capacity for up to 120 tonnes of cargo is scheduled to fly out from London Stansted today.
It will be carrying much-needed aid from Oxfam, Save the Children, The Reina Sofia Foundation and UNICEF to provide relief to the worst affected regions.
Sister airline Iberia flew six tonnes of medicines on behalf of The Reina Sofia Foundation from Spain to London to join the relief flight.
The 747 will fly to to Billund in Denmark for more supplies and will then collect further supplies from Sharjah in the UAE, before going on to its final destination of Cebu.
BA chief executive Keith Williams said: "The impact of Typhoon Haiyan has had a devastating impact on the people of the Philippines and their situation is desperate. British Airways is providing a fully crewed Boeing 747 freighter to fly urgently needed supplies to help those most in need.
"It’s vital we play our part to do what we can to support the international rescue effort and come to the aid of the millions of people caught up in this terrible crisis."
Comic Relief has agreed to suspend collections for Flying Start so that from December 9 to December 31 customers on all BA flights will be invited to make donations and give spare change to the Disaster Emergencies Committee.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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