Partnering with the humanitarian community
Supporting emergency responders
Our goal is to support the international aid organisations in regions where we operate and beyond. We bring our products and resources, from relief flights to satellite imagery and helicopter hours, to emergency responders to help alleviate some of the world's most pressing challenges.
During the very first hours of a crisis, helicopters are able to make a very strong difference and enable a swift response. Their flexibility and ability to quickly be mobilised allows to save lives and safely carry passengers in demanding environment, as well as support ground rescuers to assess emergency situations. Over 600 flight hours have been granted to emergency responders in over 16 countries. Moreover, about 800 doctors and rescuers were trained in 15 countries, enabling them to operate our helicopters to ensure the development of Emergency Medical Services around the world.
Airbus Foundation has a global network of airlines and relief organisations to support humanitarian causes. Through the Airbus Foundation Humanitarian Flight Programme, the Foundation offers a service to Airbus customers to use the delivery of their new aircraft and contribute to humanitarian efforts.
By doing so, the programme helps the humanitarian community reduce its high logistics costs by delivering medical and school supplies, food, water sanitation equipment, toys, clothing and emergency response units, (e.g. kitchen sets, logistics and medical personnel, household kits) to the most vulnerable all around the world. The programme also utilises, where possible, Airbus test aircrafts for such missions
Airbus Foundation works hand in hand with local NGOs and airline customers in order to transport goods utilising what would otherwise be an empty fight. Whether it is a country hit by a disaster, an under-equipped school in Africa or a hospital in Asia, the Foundation’s role is to link an NGO with an Airbus customer and send the necessary supplies to the destination in need.
Since 2008, the Airbus Foundation has facilitated the delivery of 900 tons of aid materials to 6 regions on 71 humanitarian flights.
If you are an airline and are interested to take part in the Airbus Foundation relief flights programme, please contact the Foundation at [email protected].
Airbus Foundation relief flights
The Airbus Foundation has organised a relief flight, using an A330-900 test aircraft, to Kabul in partnership with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Finnish Red Cross.
29 tonnes of family tents have been transported to be used by the Afghan Red Crescent Society in response to the local population suffering 12 months of droughts and flash flooding. The family tents transported are expected to provide shelter to 650,000 people impacted by these severe conditions.
In order to help survivors of cyclone Idai to rebuild their lives and communities, the Airbus Foundation in partnership with the French Crisis and Support Centre (CDCS) have sent 30 tonnes of electrical goods and construction toolkits to Beira, Mozambique using an Airbus A330neo test aircraft in April 15th. The relief equipment, provided by the CDCS, Electriciens sans Frontières, Architectes de l'Urgence and IFRC, consisted of family tents, cables, electric drills, grinding machines, jigsaws and solar lamps.
The Airbus Foundation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IRFC) have sent 26 tonnes of emergency goods from Geneva, Switzerland, to Maputo, Mozambique, using an Airbus A330neo test aircraft. The relief equipment, provided by the Swiss Red Cross and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, consisted of water, sanitation and hygiene equipment as well as shelters. The goods have been transported to Beira, Mozambique, taking much needed relief to the survivors of cyclone Idai.
The Indonesian Government, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Centre (CDCS) and the Airbus Foundation have delivered 24 tonnes of relief material including galvanised roof sheets, food supplies and ambulances from Jakarta to Lombok in Indonesia to support victims of the recent earthquakes in the area, using an A400M transport aircraft provided by the French Air Force.
3 September 2017 – The Airbus Foundation and the French Red Cross have sent an Airbus A350 XWB test aircraft with 30 tonnes of emergency goods and 84 medical personnel from France, to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. The relief equipment consisted of generators, water sanitation machines, solar lamps, beds, and mosquito netting. These are destined to the victims of hurricane Irma on the islands Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélémy and for later distribution to multiple islands in the Caribbean.
UNICEF, Humedica and the World Health Organisation were able to gather 29 tons of medical equipment, fully loading the A330 test aircraft which left Toulouse on Sunday 23th July and landed in Djibouti on Monday 24th July, after a stop in Munich. The goods have then been distributed to Yemen where more than 350,000 suspected cholera cases and over 1,500 deaths were reported in less than 3 months, according to WHO.
The Airbus Foundation has used an Airbus A330 test aircraft to transport 100m3 (17 tonnes) of relief equipment and specialized water and sanitation equipment from East Midlands Airport, United Kingdom, to Entebbe, Uganda. The goods are destined to assist the increasing number of refugees escaping the deteriorating conflict situation in South Sudan.
On 11 October, the Airbus Foundation, in collaboration with Action Against Hunger (ACF), used an Airbus A330 test aircraft to transport approximately 20 tonnes of humanitarian aid collected by ACF to Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The goods included water sanitation equipment, stocks of drinking water, household kits and family hygiene packs.
Airbus Foundation used the delivery of Vietnam Airlines’ fourth A350 XWB to transport a selection of toys, games and books from Toulouse to the Hanoi Heart Hospital in Vietnam. The gifts come from a collection organised by Aviation Sans Frontières in France and from donations raised through the “Give for Kids” programme, an Airbus employee initiative for Toulouse-based Airbus and Airbus employees.
A 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal on April 25, the worst in more than 80 years. The Airbus Foundation coordinated with the French Government’s Crisis Centre to transport 50 humanitarian staff, 21 tonnes of food and medical aid from Paris to Kathmandu onboard an Airbus A350 XWB test aircraft.
The Airbus Foundation and Aviation Sans Frontières have transported clothing and medical supplies to Manila from Toulouse aboard the delivery flight of Cebu Air’s latest A330-300 aircraft. The 2.4 tonnes of delivered goods include new clothes and shoes for children, toys, school supplies, blankets and medical supplies, much needed in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.
When Cyclone Bansi hit Malawi in mid-January, floods left hundreds dead, over 120,000 individuals homeless and crops devastated. The Airbus Foundation, in collaboration with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) used an Airbus A330 test aircraft to transport 33 tonnes of equipment (some, 3,000 kitchen sets, 9,000 mosquito nets and 4,000 tarpaulins) from Las Palmas, Spain to Lilongwe, Malawi.
An H125 rotorcraft chartered by the Airbus Helicopters Foundation joined rescue activity in Northern Chile’s Atacama Desert region, where the heaviest rainfall in 80 years caused massive flooding and landslides. This rotorcraft transported search and rescue personnel and was also available for flights to locate those trapped or isolated by the natural disaster.
The Airbus Helicopters Foundation in coordination with French Foreign Affairs Ministry Crisis Center joined forces to distribute medical supplies, food and other humanitarian aid to the communities affected by Tropical Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, some 1,7500 km east of Australia.
The Airbus Foundation is providing satellite imagery to support the assessment of the humanitarian sector for major natural disasters and crises worldwide.
Thanks to satellite images and their analysis, emergency responders and disaster relief organisations are able to map out areas that might be difficult of access, asses how severe the damage is and coordinate the actions of their staff, both on the ground and in the air.
In August 2017, we opened a dedicated satellite portal, providing free of charge access to satellite imagery to selected partners with whom we have entered into partnerships.
Our activities in Haiti and Nepal exemplify how the coordination of the company wide resources under the Airbus Foundation and the partnership with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement can have profound effects.
Contributions from all businesses helped the Foundation’s relief efforts following the refugee crisis in South Sudan (flight to Uganda in March 2017), hurricane Matthew in Haiti (October 2016) and the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Nepal (April 2015).
Airbus organised relief flights with delivery aircraft,Airbus Helicopters provided helicopter-based solutions to affected areas, and Airbus Defence and Space used satellite imagery to help assess the extent of the damage.
The Airbus Foundation Biodiversity Programme is a transnational initiative that engages employees in biodiversity conservation, in India. Since 2010, teams of Airbus’ employees have travelled to this country, living together for periods of a few weeks in remote locations in southern India, constructing biogas plants with tribal communities.
The biogas plants decrease the need for firewood being taken from protected forest areas. Not only does biogas generate much-needed energy for these villages, it also generates income: families sell the milk and fertiliser produced by the cows integral to the plant’s success.
Since 2015, the Biodiversity Programme focuses on Airbus employees based in India, in partnership with the Centre for Environment Education – supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India – and the Centre for Tribals and Rural Development Trust, an NGO in the State of Tamil Nadu.
Employees making a difference
The company's support to victims of conflicts and natural disasters does not end there: internal fundraising campaigns are also organised to support our key partners’ actions.
In the last few years, Airbus employees have donated hundreds of thousands of Euros to Red Cross national societies in support of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, the fight against Ebola, earthquake relief efforts in Nepal, and in support of people affected by the cyclone in Mozambique. In some cases, these generous donations have even been matched by the Foundation.