Air Charter Service was asked to transport 100 tonnes of urgently needed pharmaceuticals from Mumbai to New York in March 2020 – but as the coronavirus pandemic escalated, India went into lockdown 48 hours before the shipment was due to fly. With global flight suspensions and airport closures threatening the charter, it was a race against the clock to overcome logistical challenges and ensure the flight went ahead.
Medical Supplies, India to the USA
Air Charter Service was asked to transport 100 tonnes of urgently needed pharmaceuticals from Mumbai to New York in March 2020 – but as the coronavirus pandemic escalated, India went into lockdown 48 hours before the shipment was due to fly. With global flight suspensions and airport closures threatening the charter, it was a race against the clock to overcome logistical challenges and ensure the flight went ahead.
OUR SOLUTION
Routes: Mumbai, India > New York, United States
Aircraft: Boeing 777
We sourced a Boeing 777 at a competitive price and advised our client to book the aircraft 15 days in advance, as we knew prices were likely to increase as Covid-19 restrictions intensified. Strict lockdown measures meant public transport wasn’t running, so the ground handler’s staff couldn’t get to work to prepare the cargo to be loaded onto the aircraft. The airline couldn’t delay the flight, so we sprung into action and secured special permission from the local police to transport the necessary workers to the site so they could get the consignment ready in time.
THE FINER DETAILS
Global Reach: ACS has a global network of offices around the world, so our team in India was able to draw on the experience of colleagues in China and other Asian countries and make strategic pre-emptive decisions such as booking the aircraft in advance and selecting a carrier that could perform during a crisis. This led to huge savings for our client – on the day of the flight, the aircraft would have cost double what they paid to charter it.
Local Knowledge: The client initially wanted to keep costs down by flying the goods to Toronto and trucking them to New York, however we advised against this as we expected the United States to close the border with Canada imminently. As we predicted, the border was sealed a few days before the flight, meaning our local knowledge had prevented the shipment from being grounded in Canada.