Summary

  • Airbus Foundation facilitated the collaboration between Royal Malaysian Airforce, Spanish Red Cross and Airbus to deliver humanitarian cargo using the A400M

The Royal Malaysian Airforce (RMAF), Airbus and the Spanish Red Cross have worked together to deliver a load of humanitarian goods from Seville, Spain, to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Asia Pacific Regional Office in Malaysia on Thursday 23 March.

The cargo consisted of mosquito nets, which will be used to prevent malaria outbreaks following future natural disasters in the region. The collaboration has been facilitated by the Airbus Foundation and utilised the delivery flight of the fourth A400M to the RMAF.

"For the Royal Malaysian Air Force humanitarian missions are a key part of our mission and we have invested considerable training and resources to ensure that we are fully able to assist in the event of a natural disaster anywhere in the region," said General Dato' Sri Affendi Buang Chief of RMAF.

"We are delighted that this delivery flight to the Royal Malaysian Air Force has carried a load of humanitarian goods for the Red Cross. This will certainly be the first of many HADR missions, for which this aircraft is designed and ideally suited and we look forward to further support this in the future," added Fernando Alonso, Head of Military Aircraft Airbus Defence and Space. 

 

The A400M unique ability to fly further, faster and with heavy loads while operating from short and soft unpaved airstrips, makes it ideally adapted to the geographical conditions that are often faced in the context of humanitarian missions.

Offering Airbus customers to use the delivery of their new aircraft to contribute to humanitarian efforts, the Airbus Foundation Humanitarian flight Programme helps the humanitarian community reduce its high logistic costs by delivering aid to the most vulnerable around the world.

Andrea Debbane, Executive Director of the Airbus Foundation, said: "Partnerships are the backbone of the Foundation's work and it is always especially good to bring our Airbus customers together with our NGO partners. Through our humanitarian flight programme, we are setting a really important standard for the wider collaboration of commercial organisations and NGOs."