Doncaster Sheffield Airport is pivoting its core business in response to the coronavirus, by facilitating the delivery of essential supplies such as perishables and medical supplies. It is also providing a rapid response to deliver critical personal protective equipment (PPE) to NHS frontline workers.
Back in February the airport was looking forward to celebrating its 15th year with a selection of new long-haul flights to destinations including Cancun, Mexico, Sandford, Florida and Cape Verde. Fast forward to May and although passenger flights have temporarily ceased, the levels of freight and cargo have doubled from this time last year.
Ideal Medical Solutions (IMS),a UK distributor specialising in supplying surgical equipment to medical and surgical professions has sourced large volumes of high-quality PPE from China. Global supply chain manager Ligentia has changed focus from retail to manage its transport to the UK, chartering freight flights to land and offload at Doncaster Sheffield.
As a result of the partnership between the airport, IMS and Ligentia, more than 5 million pieces weighing more than 22 tonnes arrived at the airport on Thursday 7 May where they were offloaded by the airport’s cargo and operational team.
“Ordinarily May would be the start of our summer season with passengers setting off on their holiday. The outbreak has halted our passenger operation for the time being, whilst our cargo throughput has doubled from this time last year,” said Chris Harcombe, Aviation Development Director, Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
“We’ve handled 5,000 tonnes of freight in six weeks since 15 March across 60 flights. March and April traffic is up 45% against the same period last year and have over 300 tonnes of PPE scheduled to come through Doncaster Sheffield Airport. We also have over 500 tonnes of perishables coming through every week on its way to supermarket shelves,” he continued.
Meanwhile Dan Gill, COO, Ligentia added: We have changed our focus to concentrate on providing support where there is greatest need. Our head office is based in Yorkshire and we were aware of the freight capacities at Doncaster Sheffield Airport to enable us to deliver to the NHS frontline.”
