Overview
- Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will donate aircraft and fuel for seven weekly flights to carry emergency supplies into Caracas for communities hit by the 24 June earthquakes.
- Airlink will select which items fly based on humanitarian needs while the U.S. Department of State will help secure access and the World Food Programme will receive, store and distribute cargo inside Venezuela.
- The plan builds on Amazon’s prior shipments of more than 600,000 emergency items and connectivity kits meant to restore internet in hospitals and shelters in La Guaira and surrounding areas.
- Venezuelan officials report thousands of dead and injured and nearly 18,000 people without homes, while Amazon estimates more than 650,000 people need direct assistance and over 6 million were affected more broadly.
- Delivery speed will depend on coordination with Venezuelan authorities, airport capacity at Maiquetía and local distribution capacity, and the air bridge aims to reduce bottlenecks and the risk of relief systems becoming overwhelmed.