China Southern takes flight to fight outbreak
On Feb 20, a China Southern Airlines aircraft took off from Guangzhou, Guangdong provinces, carrying 95 medical workers and over 4 metric tons of medical equipment, to help in the fight against COVID-19 in the city of Jingzhou, Hubei province.
As Jingzhou’s airport is still under construction, the flight landed at Yichang at 6:33 pm, which is 100 kilometers away.
Yichang Sanxia Airport is located in a mountainous area, which poses challenges for night flights. The airline chose two experienced captains and six crew members.
Hong Yuan, one of the crew members, has 17 years of work experience. “I felt proud to contribute toward the nation’s epidemic control,” he said.
On the same day, six other chartered airplanes of the airline took medical workers from Shenyang, Harbin and Chongqing, to Wuhan, Hubei, as arranged by the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the National Health Commission. On that day, the airline transported 707 medical workers and 40.1 tons of medical supplies in total.
Liu Limin, purser on the flight from Shenyang, will retire in May. “It’s the most precious and unforgettable flight in my career,” she said, referring to flying with those selfless “white angels” — her way to describe the medical workers.
The 200 passengers were from the intensive care, respiratory and contagion departments of 36 medical institutes in Liaoning province where Shenyang is its capital.
During the key period for domestic epidemic control, China Southern Airlines allocated 50 allcargo flights every week to transport medical supplies and production parts from overseas, including Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, South Korea, Germany, the United States and Kenya.
On Feb 24, a flight carried 41.2 tons of necessities, including protective suits, face masks, gloves and goggles, from Sydney to Wuhan. This was the first time for the airline to operate a direct overseas flight to Wuhan after the outbreak.
On Feb 18, a cargo flight arrived in Shanghai from Frankfurt, Germany, with 66 tons of auto parts. Some carmakers in China faced a shortage of parts due to the suspension of logistics. China Southern Airlines launched the temporary flight to meet their demand.
By March 9, the airline had sent 5,022 flights serving 16,045 medical workers and other passengers, as well as transporting more than 4,637 tons of necessities, data from the company showed.
Wang Changshun, Party secretary and chairman of the airline, said epidemic control is the most important work, so the company has pooled all its resources.
China Southern Airlines was one of the first airlines to send medical workers to Wuhan on Jan 24. Since Jan 26, it has charged no fees for the transportation of medical necessities used in the outbreak. Cleaning and disinfection of cabins are also conducted under strict guidance.
The company has donated 10,000 protective suits, 10,000 face masks and 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) to Hubei province for epidemic control.