United Nations Humanitarian Air Service

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"UNHAS" redirects here. For the Indonesian University known as Unhas, see Hasanuddin University.
United Nations Humanitarian Air Service
United Nations (UTair) Boeing 737-500-1.jpg
A United Nations Humanitarian Air Service Boeing 737 operated by UTair

The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) managed by the World Food Programme (WFP), provides common air services, including light cargo transport for the wider humanitarian community to and from areas of crisis and intervention. In doing so, it facilitates the implementation and monitoring of humanitarian interventions in numerous life-saving thematic areas. In most countries requiring humanitarian assistance, surface travel is impeded by challenging security situations, long distances and poor road conditions. Furthermore, most of the destinations the humanitarian community needs to reach are not served by adequate commercial air operators. When no other means of reaching isolated communities are available, aid workers can rely on UNHAS to provide access. [1] Despite the extreme challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, UNHAS operations have continued to serve the humanitarian community by quickly implementing preventive measures so that it can continue to fly, securing government authorizations, providing medical evacuation capacity, and transporting test samples and medical cargo, including COVID-19 vaccines.

WFP began its large-scale air operations in the 1980s to transport food and humanitarian workers to countries like Angola, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. Air transport subsequently evolved into an integral part of WFP’s logistics. Gradually, WFP Aviation transformed from addressing an internal need for food delivery into a common service for the humanitarian community. Effective 1 January 2004, WFP Aviation has become the leading humanitarian air transport provider for humanitarian and development communities.

To fulfil its mission, UNHAS uses a fleet of more than 100 aircraft,including helicopters, chartered from commercial air operators that are compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARP) and the United Nations Aviation Standards for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Air Transport Operations (UNAVSTADS).[2]

Chartered aircraft are fully dedicated to UNHAS operations. Therefore, contracted air carriers are assured of revenue in terms of guaranteed aircraft utilization for the duration of the contract. This, along with UNHAS' efficient management of schedules, ensures that partner air carriers avoid taking undue risks to achieve financial gains. For example, in the event of a flight cancellation due to poor weather conditions, the air carrier would not be financially penalized.

In February 2020, WFP signed the Indirect Management Delegation Agreement with the Directorate-General of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), under the project title “Provision of Air Service in Support of DG ECHO Funded and other Humanitarian Aid Projects in DRC, Mali and Kenya”, also known as the ECHO Flight project. The ECHO Flight project aims to be flexible and agile to respond to changing environments in protracted contexts.

UNHAS operations[]

In 2020 UNHAS provided passenger and light cargo services through 22 WFP special operations in 24 countries:[3]

Fleet[]

To fulfil its mission, UNHAS uses a fleet of more than 100 aircraft, consisted of a mix of jet and turboprop aircraft as well as helicopters, including:[1]

Fixed wings:

Rotary wings:

Performance[]

In 2020, UNHAS transported 248,026 aid workers, donors and journalists alongside 3,975 mt of humanitarian cargo and food to 400 destinations in 22 country operations. Additionally, 1,343 evacuations have been carried out during this year, including security relocations, medical evacuations and 32 COVID-19 medical evacuations.

Until February 2020, UNHAS transported about 31,000 passengers each month. In the following seven months, during the peak of the pandemic and the period in which most countries restricted movement, the number of passengers transported fell approximately by half, with only 15,000 people transported each month. In October and November 2020, the number of passengers transported by UNHAS started to return rapidly towards pre-COVID-19 levels, with a monthly average of more than 25,000.

WFP Aviation Safety and Quality Assurance Management Systems[]

WFP does not manage any aircraft of its own, but contracts aircraft from other operators. The chartered operators need to be compliant with both ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices and the United Nations Aviation Standards for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Air Transport Operations. Operators are approved by the WFP Aviation Safety Unit (ASU). Based in Rome, with regional offices in Kenya, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, the ASU, which directly reports to the Deputy Executive Director, conducts safety evaluations of commercial air operators across all regions for possible inclusion in the List of Registered Air Operators.

The safety evaluation process, which includes a review of certifications, safety records and identification of gaps, enables air operators to improve their safety systems. The ASU also provides safety management system training to commercial air operators, civil aviation authorities and WFP staff across all operations. UNHAS prioritizes aviation security risk management in all field operations while providing assessments in areas where the need for new air operations is identified to mitigate existing risks and put in place processes and systems that reduce exposure to security-related incidents.

WFP facilitates aviation safety campaigns twice a year in different parts of the world to raise awareness on recurrent safety concerns and to promote a culture of safe aviation among civil aviation authorities, airport authorities, air carriers and regulators.[2]

Funding[]

WFP/UNHAS is funded by contributions from donors and money realized from a partial cost recovery scheme through which passengers pay ticket fees for the air service.

The UNHAS donors in 2020 were: Australia, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the United Nations itself, and the World Bank.

References[]

  1. ^ "Chapter 6: Flying Humanitarians: The UN Humanitarian Air Service - UN Air Power: Wings for Peace". unairpower.net. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  2. ^ "WFP Aviation Annual Review 2017". WFP Aviation Annual Review. March 2018.
  3. ^ UNHAS, WFP (25 June 2021). "United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) 2020 Overview". www.wfp.org. Retrieved 2021-12-31.

External links[]

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