Air Partner brings more people out as situation in Egypt worsens

The company arranged the UK government’s Boeing 757 charter which is flying around 200 Britons from Cairo to London Gatwick today (February 3). The flight, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, forms part of Air Partner’s four-year contract as the sole provider of passenger and freight air charter services for the Department for International Development (DFID).  Members of the government’s Rapid Deployment Team flew to Egypt on the outbound leg yesterday.  
 
By the end of today, Air Partner will have flown 2,800 people out of Egypt since last Sunday (January 30) on behalf of a wide range of clients. Passengers have flown in groups ranging from four people to 222. Flights have departed from Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria and Hurghada to a range of safe destinations including the UK, Dubai, Bahrain, France and Germany. A variety of aircraft have been used from Hawker 900XP and Embraer Legacy private jets to commercial airliners such as Airbus A320s and B737s.
 
Air Partner has leveraged the skills of its teams in all 20 international offices and the Group continues to be engaged 24/7 in finding air evacuation solutions for corporations seeking to safeguard the safety of their non-essential overseas employees as the political situation and unrest in Egypt intensifies.  Key services involve identifying and locating suitable available aircraft for each task and negotiating flight slots, fuel, aircraft handling and visa permissions.   
 
Suzanne Sharp, Air Partner’s Commercial Jets Manager UK, said: “The current situation at Cairo Airport is very fluid but we are utilising our contacts and the strength of our relationships with operators, airport authorities and ground handling companies to ensure we can give robust support to our clients.”
 
Mark Briffa, Chief Executive, added: “Multinationals want to get their staff out as quickly as possible and are having to find other solutions to scheduled flights. We are flying major oil companies, financial institutions, supermarket chains and telecommunications, confectionary and travel conglomerates.”
 
“For large corporations who need to move hundreds of people, it’s much more effective to charter one large jet to evacuate all employees at the same time, rather than waiting for seats to become available on commercial flights and getting them out in small groups or even one by one.  Clients are ensuring that they look after their staff during this crisis by getting them to safety as securely and efficiently as possible.”