QATAR. Qatar Airways has flown over one million passengers home — on both scheduled and chartered flights — and transported 70,000 tonnes of medical supplies in the past month, amid the COVID-19 global health emergency.
Over the last several weeks, Qatar Airways has helped repatriate 45,000 passengers in France, 70,000 in Germany and over 100,000 to the UK. The airline has been operating a mix of scheduled, chartered, and extra sector flights since mid-February. It has also been working with governments and travel companies, and operated over 90 chartered flights, to bring home over 26,000 stranded travellers.
The airline is operating around 60 scheduled flights daily — flying to new destinations such as Brisbane, Christchurch, and Toronto — to help bring home travellers.
“We have built a strong level of trust with our passengers, governments, travel trade and cargo businesses as a reliable partner when we were needed the most and we continue to offer a schedule where possible and allowed by governments” — His Excellency Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker
As reported, Qatar Airways Cargo has increased its services, giving priority to the transportation of essential medical supplies and aid relief.
The company will continue to operate its full freighter fleet per schedule and operate belly-hold cargo flights whenever possible.
To address the demand for medical supplies around the world, Qatar Airways has also begun deploying passenger aircrafts to carry medical supplies and aid to destinations in China, Europe, India, and the Middle East, where needs emerge.
Qatar Airways has also implemented an employee payment deferral scheme that would see mid-to-top tier employees defer 50% of their basic salaries from April to June 2020. The temporary cost-saving measure will remain in place for an initial period of three months and be reviewed depending on the economic circumstances of the company.
The airline has also introduced a number of enhanced health, safety and hygiene protocols across its fleet. This includes the regular disinfection or its aircrafts using Air Transport Association (IATA) and World Health Organisation (WHO) approved sanitation products and stringent cleaning protocols for all meal service utensils.
Other measures include the use of industrial-size HEPA filters that remove 99.97% of viral contaminants in circulated air, the washing of all onboard linens at microbial lethal temperatures, and the sanitation and headsets and ear foams.
In addition, Hamad International Airport (HIA) has also enforced strict sanitation protocols and shuttered non-essential passenger facilities. The airport is sanitising all major passenger touch points every 15 minutes, cleaning boarding gate counters after every flight, and providing hand sanitiser at immigration and security checkpoints.
It has also implemented strict social distancing guidelines and additional health and safety training for staff. Employees at the airport are also required to wear masks and gloves to protect themselves against infection.
His Excellency Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker commented, “The entire team at Qatar Airways has worked incredibly hard to take people home over the past few weeks. We have built a strong level of trust with our passengers, governments, travel trade and cargo businesses as a reliable partner when we were needed the most and we continue to offer a schedule where possible and allowed by governments.”
He added, “We also introduced an employee pay deferral scheme which the company will credit salary back as soon as possible when circumstances allow. Many other work groups overseas and across all job levels have also offered to take voluntary salary deferrals in solidarity with their colleagues, reinforcing the fact that the Qatar Airways Group family is one who has the best interests of each other and the airline at heart.”
“I know many of our Qatar Airways employees have left family and friends at home to commit to building this airline with me and we will always do what is in the best interest of both the business and our committed and hard-working staff, I could not be more proud of our team who have worked incredibly hard to build even greater trust with the travelling public.”
