Today, in the early hours of the morning, the first shipment arrived at Schiphol carried by one of Xiamen Airlines’ aircraft. On behalf of the employees of the three Chinese airlines, KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers accepted this first shipment of in total around 90,000 face masks and 50,000 pairs of gloves. KLM’s CEO was accompanied by Ernst Kuipers, Chairman of the Boards of Erasmus MC and the Dutch Network for Acute Medical Care (Landelijk Netwerk Acute Zorg – LNAZ), and Brinio Veldhuijzen van Zanten of KLM Health Services.

Over the past 20 years, KLM has established a broad-based route network, coupled with especially close relations in China. Before the outbreak of the corona crisis, KLM and its partners operated 59 flights a week from Schiphol to mainland China. Shipments of this nature serve to underscore the enormous significance of connections by air in general, and those with China in particular. Medical supplies like this can only be transported swiftly and efficiently to the other side of the world by aircraft. This is especially important in times of scarcity and interdependence.