Air Canada's Boeing 767-300 freighter aircraft departed last night from Toronto to Frankfurt, transporting humanitarian and medical aid on behalf of Airlink, Flexport.org and GlobalMedic. The flight carried aid including medical and trauma supplies, water purification and sanitation kits destined for an area north of Lviv, Ukraine.

After the flight arrives, Airlink's NGO partner GlobalMedic will have response teams manage the distribution of supplies to treat Ukrainian civilians who have been displaced by the conflict, whose homes have been destroyed, and those injured, expanding the capacity of hospitals in border regions to provide care.

Non-profit disaster logistics expert Airlink exists to help remove the cost of air transportation as a barrier to NGOs responding to disasters and other humanitarian crises. It was able to use its long-term partnership with Air Canada, the visibility and seamless coordination provided by the Flexport platform, and support from donors, to secure the cargo-only flight making the delivery of this shipment possible. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Airlink has transported more than 135 tonnes of aid and 221 relief workers for 20 non-profit organizations providing medical care, food, mental health counseling, clean water, and other essentials to Ukrainian refugees.

The second humanitarian cargo flight is Air Canada's most recent initiative supporting the crisis in Ukraine. Previous initiatives include:

• Donation of 100 million Aeroplan Points to facilitate the travel of Ukrainians to Canada onboard Air Canada and Star Alliance partner airlines
• Donation of $10 per booking made on Air Canada's website starting March 22 for a total donation of $250,000 to Ukraine relief aid
• Air Canada employees and the Air Canada Foundation donation of $170,000 to supporting Ukraine relief aid
• On March 9, Air Canada-operated humanitarian special cargo flight on behalf of Airlink and other aid partners transport hospital beds, humanitarian and medical supplies to Warsaw, Poland and medicines destined for Lviv, Ukraine
• Transportation of rapid response teams to scale up operations in Europe to help arriving Ukrainian families