Taking advantage of Constant Climate’s facilities, dedicated to pharmaceutical products, in London (Heathrow) and Madrid (Barajas), IAG Cargo sent 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Latin American and Caribbean countries since January.
IAG Cargo, composed by Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia, began transporting COVID-19 vaccines in December 2020, and to date has made shipments to the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ireland, Austria, America and also to Melilla, a Spanish autonomous city located on the northwest coast of Africa.
Several of the shipments are transported via charter services, introduced at the beginning of the pandemic.
In February it was announced that IAG Cargo had been designated as one of the airlines to support UNICEF’s Humanitarian Air Cargo Initiative, in order to transport vaccines under the COVAX regime.
According to Daniel Byrne, Regional Business Manager from UK and Ireland at IAG Cargo, the doses have been shipped to El Salvador, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and partnered with Crown Agents to support delivery efforts in various British Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos.
Crown Agents CEO, Fergus Drake, said: “In the global race to secure doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, we act to ensure that no country is left behind. We are proud to work with IAG Cargo to ensure that even the most remote regions of the world receive their fair share of the vaccine”.
By using their main bases in London (Heathrow) of British Airways and Madrid (Barajas) of Iberia -which have an extensive network- they can send vaccines to many parts of the world on scheduled flights on their passenger aircraft.
The Air France-KLM group uses the same strategy with its bases in Amsterdam (Schiphol) of KLM and Paris (Charles de Gaulle) of Air France.
The four airlines give the possibility to ship the vaccines in the shortest possible time to countries on the other side of the world.
