British Airways Provides East Africa Relief Flight

British Airways is thanking its customers and volunteers for making it possible to deliver relief supplies to drought-stricken East Africa, where over a half-million people are directly at risk of starvation. BA flew a Boeing 747 freighter full of emergency supplies and equipment to Ethiopia on Friday, August 12, carrying aid from Oxfam and UNICEF. The two charities are among those working in the region.

The aircraft carried 5,000 meters of pipe from Oxfam, which will be used to supply much-needed water to the Dolo Ado refugee camp in Ethiopia, as well as vital emergency food and medical supplies from UNICEF.

British Airways' customers are also playing their part. For the first two weeks in August, all donations onboard every British Airways flight were going to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for East Africa. BA carried over seven-and-a-half tonnes of water tanks, tapstands, pipes and water pumps from Oxfam as free cargo on a scheduled flight to Nairobi.

The airline also gave Oxfam free flights to Kenya to get 40 relief experts into the worst-affected areas as quickly as possible.

Airline CEO Keith Williams commented, "The generosity of our customers will make a real and tangible difference to those in desperate need. It is vital that we get aid from charities to the most seriously affected areas across East Africa. We want to do what we can to help those caught up in this terrible crisis."

British Airways encourages other airlines to offer similar help.

FMI: www.britishairways.com