Following its first cargo charter to Guangzhou, China four days back, Himalaya Airlines a Nepal-China joint venture, took off to Changsha, China to bringin another shipment of vital COVID-19 medical supplies. Coordinating for the flight logistics, overflying permissions and landing permits, the necessary approvals were obtained from regulatory bodies to conduct this special medical supplies cargo flight to Changsha.

Himalaya has an already established air link with Changsha. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, Himalaya had launched weekly direct flights to Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan province, from November 20, 2019.

A320-214, 9N ALW, left Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu today at 1745 hours and is scheduled to reach Changsha Huanghua International Airport at 2405 hours (local time) the next day. The aircraft will be heading back at 0405 hours (local time) with medical supplies and is expected to arrive in Kathmandu, at 0640 hours on Friday, May 01.

Vijay Shrestha, Vice President, stated “We have operated our last cargo flight to Guangzhou successfully and Changsha being one of our flight destinations, it was relatively easy to prepare for this second cargo flight.We had opened up our flight services to five cities in China just before the outbreak of COVID-19, and with these air bridges we stand ready to ship the much needed medical suppliesto ensure the nation’s supply chain keeps flowing to win the battle against the pandemic”

Having acquired the special permission from CAAN, the operating crew has taken all necessary precautions to follow the health safety measures as directed by the Government of Nepal.The cargo includes COVID-19 medical supplies such as medical equipment, testing kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks/gloves etc.