Airbus dispatches an Airbus A350 to assist in COVID-19 efforts

Photo by Anselm Ranta | AeroNewsX

Airbus has deployed an A350-1000 test aircraft to the northern Chinese city of Tianjin to pick up medical supplies. The stretched variant of Airbus’s flagship offering will bring around 4 million facemasks back to Europe, where there is a dire need for them as frontline medical workers in some of the hard-hit countries continue to battle the virus. The masks will head to Germany, France, Spain, and the UK. The A350-1000 (MSN59) flew to Tianjin Friday evening from Toulouse and arrived in the Chinese city the day after. The aircraft soon loaded 4 million facemasks and departed for Hamburg in Germany the following afternoon and arrived Saturday evening before continuing to Toulouse. The Airbus flight test crew operated both flights. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has reiterated that he stands firm with fellow employees of Airbus and appreciated their efforts in the unified fight against COVID-19. “I would like to pay tribute to all the Airbus teams, globally, supporting the fight against COVID-19. They’re living our values in assisting those who are saving lives every day”, said Faury. Airbus had earlier dispatched its Beluga transport freighter to Hamburg carrying facemasks to distribute to the frontlines. On top of that, Airbus had already operated multiple flights to China with an Airbus A330-800 and an A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to deliver crucial medical supplies.