Air bp provides support during COVID-19
As the impact of COVID-19 touches every corner of the globe, we’re supporting the communities in which we operate through a number of initiatives alongside our customers and partners.
In Australia we worked with our procurement team to donate 35,000 N95 masks to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) for their frontline staff.
Our donation builds on a long-standing relationship with the organisation which spans decades of providing bespoke fuelling services. Air bp has also been a national partner of the RFDS for the past three years.
In a statement on their website, the RFDS said: “We cannot thank Air bp enough for this much-needed gift. N95 masks are crucial to keeping our frontline staff safe... It will ensure our staff will be fully protected as they continue to provide the finest care for rural and remote Australians.”
Also in Australia, Air bp’s rapid response helped to keep a Qantas Sydney to London ‘Kangaroo’ route going after Singapore banned stopovers in late-March. Air bp provided an average of 266,000 litres of fuel per flight at Darwin airport, enabling aircraft to continue on the historic non-stop 16-hour flight.
In France we are supporting an initiative led by Aviation Sans Frontières, an aviation charity dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance. We are donating 60,000 litres of jet fuel for flights that will transport medical staff and equipment between French hospitals. These flights are carried out free of charge when requested by medical authorities. With more than 50 locations in France, we are well positioned to support this critical service.
In the UK, Air bp is providing free jet fuel for use by the helicopters of a number of UK air ambulance services, supporting their life-saving work during the pandemic. All these services are charitable organisations that we already supply with jet fuel. Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Great Western Air Ambulance receive fuel directly from Air bp, whilst Wales Air Ambulance and Midlands Air Ambulance Charity are supplied by Air bp customer Babcock International. bp is also supplying free fuel to the UK’s emergency services ground transport vehicles.
In the US Air bp is donating 3 million gallons of jet fuel to customers FedEx and Alaska Airlines to support the timely delivery of medical supplies and other essential goods, such as food and mail, to areas of the U.S. at greatest risk for COVID-19. We will also offset the carbon emissions of all donated fuel deliveries through the bp Target Neutral programme.
In China, we have been providing support through our two joint ventures.
To date, the South China Blue Sky joint venture has fuelled more than 800 epidemic relief and repatriation flights. Meanwhile at Shenzhen Airport, staff working with Shenzhen Chengyuan Aviation Oil Co. have been working round the clock to maintain aviation fuel supplies for chartered flights carrying medical and relief equipment to Wuhan and other cities in China.
Jon Platt, CEO, Air bp said: “We are pleased to be able to play our part in supporting our communities during these difficult times. Our commitment to safe, reliable fuelling operations remains unwavering and we’re grateful for the hard work of our front-line Air bp operators who continue to enable us to meet the needs of our customers.”
The bp Foundation will also donate USD$2 million to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, which supports medical professionals and patients worldwide by providing critical aid and supplies.
You can read more about bp’s response to COVID-19 here.