ACS arranges 130 aid flights and counting following hurricanes

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Air Charter Service has arranged more than 130 charter flights so far in response to hurricanes ravaging the Caribbean and Southern states of the USA.

The flights have covered passengers and cargo, and chief executive officer Justin Bowman says the US offices were already busy arranging charters in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Texas when Hurricanes Irma and Maria left a trail of destruction across the Atlantic Basin.

He says: “We are still arranging charters every day to send aid to those affected. So far we have arranged more than 130 flights, evacuating groups of people and carrying a total of almost 3,000 tonnes of humanitarian cargo in the past four weeks.”

ACS has staff on the ground in San Juan helping to coordinate the movement of aircraft and ensure that aid gets to those who need it as quickly as possible.

Bowman adds: “We have arranged charters for various American specialist freight forwarders as well as the British government’s Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence – one of which was a helicopter on board an Antonov 124 aircraft.”

He says the helicopter has been used to distribute aid more effectively as many airports in the region were badly damaged and unable to accept fixed wing aircraft.

Bowman adds: “The majority of the cargo has been the usual mix of relief goods however, such as shelter kits, water bottles and ration packs for the victims left homeless on islands such as Barbados and Puerto Rico.”

“In the lead up to the hurricanes hitting, our passenger division was also working hard, chartering more than 20 aircraft to evacuate groups of people from the region.”