KQ listed among 15 Airlines to Transport Covid-19 vaccines

Kenya Airways (KQ) has been hired by UNICEF to ferry the Covid-19 vaccine together with 14 other airlines. The inclusion brings the number of African airlines participating in the vaccine distribution to three.

“KQ is now among the carriers in Unicef humanitarian airfreight initiative and such would be eligible to carry COVAX vaccines and other essential supplies to different countries and we have already signed the MOU,” read the communication from the Ministry of Transport.

KQ has been struggling to remain in the skies due to low passenger numbers on most of its routes caused by Covid-19 restrictions.

The airline recently converted its Boeing 787 passenger planes into freighters in a bid to transport vaccines in Africa.

The cargo business is critical to the national carrier as it is now expanding its cargo planes to other destinations to cater to the low passenger numbers.

African airlines tasked to transport the vaccines include Ethiopian Airline and Astral Aviation, a Nairobi -based freighter.

Other airlines in the initiative include AirBridgeCargo, Air France/KLM, Emirates SkyCargo, Brussels Airlines, Cargolux, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, IAG Cargo, Korean Air, Lufthansa Cargo, Qatar Airways, Saudi Singapore Airlines and United Airlines.

The vaccines being transported are those that the World Health Organization (WHO) is supplying to Africa to cover about 20% of the continent’s population.