Cathay Pacific Cargo B747F with 3 lakh Covid testing kits to India departs Portland
May 28, 2021: Cathay Pacific Cargo airlifted 300,000 Covid-19 testing kits, which were a gift from the State of Oregon. The shipment departed Portland for Mumbai via Hong Kong on one of Cathay Pacific Cargo’s Boeing 747 freighters.
Cathay Pacific Cargo, forwarder Expeditors and logistics company Davis Trucking partnered with the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Administrative Services, offering their services free of charge for the shipment.
May 28, 2021: Cathay Pacific Cargo airlifted 300,000 Covid-19 testing kits, which were a gift from the State of Oregon. The shipment departed Portland for Mumbai via Hong Kong on one of Cathay Pacific Cargo’s Boeing 747 freighters.
Cathay Pacific Cargo, forwarder Expeditors and logistics company Davis Trucking partnered with the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Administrative Services, offering their services free of charge for the shipment.
Mark Sutch, regional general manager, South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Cathay Pacific, said, “I would like to thank our team in the Americas and our local partners for organising this shipment. As one of the leading cargo providers operating into India, we stand united with citizens of the country and further our efforts in bringing essential humanitarian and medical aid to India. ”
The shipment’s BinaxNOW rapid Covid-19 test kits will be delivered to the Desai Foundation, an organisation that serves rural communities with health and livelihood programmes focusing on women and children in several states in India. The Foundation will distribute the testing kits, which produce results in 15 minutes, to Covid care and isolation centres, hospitals and local health workers.
Kate Brown, governor, Oregon, said, “It’s simply devastating what is happening in India as Covid-19 variants exact an enormous toll on human lives. In Oregon, we step up to help those in need by offering any help we can give.”
Keith Leavitt, chief trade and equitable development officer, Port of Portland, said, “We’re so grateful to the state, Cathay Pacific and the other local partners which stepped up to make this flight happen.”
The flight marks the second occasion during the pandemic that Cathay Pacific Cargo has adjusted its air cargo operations to ship essential Covid-19 supplies at no cost to Portland or to Oregon, following a flight last year when Cathay Pacific Cargo carried 1 million surgical masks into the state when they were urgently needed by frontline healthcare workers.
