• Air Charter Service has supported humanitarian relief efforts following the June 24 earthquakes in Venezuela, arranging charter flights for governments, aid agencies and NGOs, including an initial A330 flight carrying search and rescue teams from Europe to Caracas.
• The company has since coordinated multiple cargo charters delivering critical supplies such as medical equipment, hygiene kits, shelters, water tanks, satellite communications equipment and a field hospital, with its first dedicated cargo flight transporting around 10 tonnes of aid.
• Air Charter Service has deployed two Venezuelan team members from its Miami and Mexico City offices to Caracas to coordinate airport operations and cargo movements, while additional relief flights remain scheduled as demand continues.

Air Charter Service has been at the forefront of relief operations following the double earthquake that hit Venezuela two weeks ago, arranging charter flights for governments, aid agencies and NGOs.

Ben Dinsdale, Air Charter Service’s Director for Government and Humanitarian Services, commented: “Two devastating earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter Scale, struck just outside the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. We started receiving cargo and passenger requests on the Thursday morning and set about finding solutions. The first flight that we had in the air was on Friday morning, carrying a search and rescue team on an A330 from Europe into Caracas. Last week we flew some of those search & rescue teams home, after that stage of the operation ended and the main focus shifted to getting aid to the survivors.

“On the cargo side, a lot of the aid initially flew in on military aircraft, but our first flight into the region was early last week on a B737-800F carrying around 10 tons of vital satellite equipment, to aid communications in the country. Since then, we have arranged multiple charters into the country carrying aid, through our European, Asian and US offices, with cargo including medical equipment, hygiene kits, shelters, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, water tanks and a field hospital. We have two people on the ground in Caracas now, both Venezuelan nationals, one from our Miami office and the other from our Mexico City office. They are there to help coordinate our charters at the airport over the coming days and ensure the safe onward passage of the cargo.

“We have several charters booked that will depart this week, and are expecting more to confirm in the next few days.”

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