A flight of love and charity
The carrier that files to more countries than any other, Turkish Airlines, is taking off this time for a journey that is important for humanity
Acall for aid, made to the flag carrier airline of Turkey by well-known social media personalities resonated around the globe, has become a beacon of hope for the Somali people. The call by French social media phenomenon Jerome Jarre, who has 1.3 million followers on Twitter and 1 million subscribers on YouTube, and his 5 friends using hash tags #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia and #Lovearmyforsomalia tried to draw attention to the humanitarian plight in Somalia; with support from Hollywood stars such as Ben Stiller, it was able to reach more than 2 billion people around the world.
Turkish Airlines promptly responded to this important call, which turned into one of the most powerful social responsibility campaigns in the history of social media. To Jerome and his friends’ request for transporting collected supplies to Somalia via Turkish Airlines planes, Turkish Airlines responded via their Turkey and global Twitter accounts, tweeting “We got the call for this meaningful flight.”, and stating that they were going to support the campaign by carrying a total of 200 tonnes of supplies to Somalia, over a 6-month period.
After Jerome Jarre and his friends got a positive response from Turkish Airlines, their international relief fund reached its goal of 1 billion dollars in just 22 hours, instead of the expected 10 days, thanks to some 16 thousand donors from 104 countries. On the 15th day of the campaign, the number of donors has reached 80 thousand, and the number of countries 125. For example, 65 tonnes of high protein baby formula bought with donations from all around the world took off from Istanbul on the night of April 4th and delivered to Somalia via a special cargo flight organized by Turkish Airlines.
Turkish Airlines flies to more destinations in Africa than any other, and with its responsibility as the only airline connecting Somalia to the world, it will continue to help the Somali people in their struggle against one of the greatest famine and draught crises of the century.