ISLAMABAD - Medical equipment including ventilators, N95 masks and protective gear reached Pakistan from China on Sunday.  A PAF aircraft laden with 14 tons of cargo comprising ventilators, N-95 masks and protective gear landed at Nur Khan Airbase.  The Air Transport fleet of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been assigned the responsibility to airlift medical equipment and relief goods from China to help fight COVID-19 pandemic in the country, according to the PAF officials.  This is one of the many relief flights undertaken by PAF in past couple of months. These sorties also include the ones flown to COVID-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, earlier this year. During these relief sorties, tons of medical supplies were airlifted by PAF aircrafts. It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan had also dispatched relief goods to the brotherly country via a PAF aircraft when the deadly coronavirus pandemic broke out in the city of Wuhan.

This was the third of the series of relief flights undertaken by the PAF transport aircraft from China. During the previous two relief sorties, 16 tons of medical supplies were airlifted by PAF aircraft. The Pakistan Air Force has always led from the front in the hour of need whenever called upon by the nation, both during peace and war. The PAF transport fleet has a remarkable history of being the first to respond in the aftermath of natural disasters and national emergencies whether within the country or abroad. The PAF also undertakes large-scale relief operations in the advent of any earthquakes in the country by not only carrying out aerial delivery of the relief goods to the victims in tough terrains but also evacuating the affected people to safer places. On such occasions, the Air Ambulance of the PAF is used to shift seriously injured persons from affected areas to the nearby hospitals. On several occasions, the PAF teams have also rescued tourists stranded in mountainous areas amid heavy snowfall.