Aid delivered in wake of South East Asia and South Pacific disasters

Chapman Freeborn Airchartering’s worldwide offices have been heavily involved with the effort to get rescue teams and emergency aid supplies to the thousands affected by the earthquake and typhoons in South East Asia and a tsunami in the South Pacific.

The global aircraft charter specialist’s Singapore office took the lead as the company oversaw the movement of hundreds of tons of relief cargo to Sumatra, the Philippines and Samoa on behalf of international aid agencies.

In the aftermath of the earthquake and typhoons in South East Asia which claimed over 1,000 victims and left 400,000 people homeless, aid was flown into airports including Padang (PDG), Indonesia and Manila (MNL), Philippines on chartered DC10, IL-76, B777F, B747F and Hercules aircraft.

Chapman Freeborn’s passenger charter expertise was also put to the test, with charters to Padang on two Fokker 100s and a B757-200 aircraft arranged on behalf of Middle Eastern and European-based search and rescue organisations with specialist dog teams.

Operational support in the form of securing flight permits and fuel provisions at airports including Padang was arranged for Chapman Freeborn and additional airline clients by 24-hour subsidiary Paragon Global Flight Support.

In addition, Chapman Freeborn has also overseen further charters in response to the tsunami which struck Samoa and Tonga in the South Pacific. Humanitarian cargo was transported on Hercules aircraft to Faleolo Airport (APW), Samoa in support of aid missions. At least 169 people were killed and many thousands of others were left homeless.

Chapman Freeborn has 32 offices in 22 countries across five continents. The company coordinated more than 5,000 cargo and passenger charters last year.