Under the pressing epidemic situation, Wuhan City of Hubei Province was locked down on the early morning of January 23, with airports, railway stations and other channels to leave the city all being temporarily shut down. Against such circumstances, to assist domestic medical teams to arrive in Wuhan as quickly as possible, and enable medical supplies from all over the world to successfully reach the epicenter, civil aviation personnel in Wuhan offered to stay and asked for battling Covid-19 by holding on to their posts, determined to never leave Wuhan or Hubei alone.

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport

Assuring Safe Arrival of Medical Teams and Supplies

Over the past few days, the grass-roots Party Branches of Hubei Airport Group have sounded the "bugle call" to contain the epidemic by ensuring a safe, efficient, smooth and convenient access gate for epidemic prevention personnel and supplies to arrive in Wuhan. Since January 24, with the development of the epidemic and the continuous changes in the transfer modes of medical personnel and supplies in the air field of the airport, the focus of the Air Field Operation and Supervision Office has been dynamically adjusted accordingly but with the consistent goal of apron safety even it is during the special time of epidemic prevention-related operation.

In order to assist the rapid transfer of medical personnel and supplies, special and charter aircraft were arranged at remote stands. And social vehicles and drivers were considered risk sources of the apron safety for unfamiliar with the driving routes, environment and rules after an evaluation of various factors by Air Field Operation and Supervision Office.

At the same time, as the epidemic prevention and control entered a new stage, medical personnel were entering the T3 terminal via bridges, but a large number of supplies were directly transferred through the remote stands in the airfield, with many flights arriving at night, and many of the vehicles used for supply transport being oversized (in width, height, length or weight).

Facing such circumstances, apron inspectors worked in a collaborative manner: one being responsible for supervision over order of on-site operation and support, one being responsible for guiding and commanding social vehicles to enter and leave airfield, and another showing the way. Through such, transfer tasks were completed successfully with high efficiency while the bottom line of apron safety remained untouched.

On February 2, eight IL-76 heavy cargo aircraft were deployed to assist Huoshenshan Hospital. In order to ensure orderly parking of those 8 aircraft and over 40 transfer vehicles, and fast transport of personnel and supplies from airport, Wuhan Airport formulated a detailed route plan for inbound and outbound vehicles, along with a detailed route map and a vehicle parking map after previous evaluation and site survey, organized desktop exercises, and communicated with relevant entities to confirm details of on-site parking and transfer.

So far, there have been no man-made operational errors and accidents in the airfield of Wuhan Tianhe Airport.

China Eastern Wuhan

Flight Suspended, But not Support

Although China Eastern Wuhan has suspended all commercial flights due to the outbreak, many of the employees still stuck to their posts for epidemic prevention tasks. In particular, the ground service department, which is indispensable for charter operation, has always been up on the front line.

On Lunar New Year’s Eve, the first charter flight of China Eastern arrived in Wuhan from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, carrying the first batch of medical aid team and 4690 kilograms of urgently needed medical supplies. On the second day of the Lunar New year, a Boeing 777 all-cargo airplane of China Eastern’s subordinate China Cargo Airlines delivered 3.16 million masks from Manila, being the first overseas all-cargo charter to help Wuhan. Since then, China Eastern has arranged for more than 10 charter aircraft with doctors and nurses on board and supplies loaded from Kunming, Xi’an, Taiyuan, Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan, Nanjing and more to support Wuhan. China Eastern Wuhan also made every effort to assure ground work, timely accepting flights, and assuring rapid transfer of personnel and supplies.

In order to complete mission during this special time, the Ground Service Department of China Eastern Wuhan required Party members to take the lead, specify responsibilities, clarify the division of labor, and devote themselves to supporting flights for epidemic prevention personnel and supplies. Sun Jibo, Deputy Manager of Apron Service Branch of the Ground Service Department and also a 15-year Party member, has been fighting at the forefront since Lunar New Year’s Eve, communicating support information, allocating staff, and leading his team to complete supporting tasks. Xu Xingxiang, leader of special vehicle drivers, despite of his sick family member, overcame difficulties and rushed to the airport for his job to support flights; Hu Jun, Operation Manager of Passenger Service Branch, facing with the temporary increase of international flights to China, communicated with joint inspection entities in advance to confirm passenger information, assisted the Customs in inspection onboard and calmed passengers; her husband Wang Kun, a dispatcher of China Eastern, has also firmly stayed in his post, coordinating and processing various kinds of flight operation information…

These busy Party members of China Eastern Wuhan believe that their present efforts will contribute to faster containment of the epidemic. At that time, they will be able to return to their daily routines and provide the best services to passengers from everywhere.

CAAC Hubei Safety Supervision and Management Bureau

Assuring 24-Hour Airworthiness of Airports in Hubei

In order to safeguard efficient air transport of supplies and personnel during the emergency period, CAAC Hubei Safety Supervision and Management Bureau (Hubei SSMB) strengthened communication with Hubei Prevention and Control Command Center, Wuhan Prevention and Control Command Center, Hubei Emergency Management Department and Hubei Health Commission, with whom jointly established a rapid response mechanism. In the meantime, departments within Hubei SSMB also coordinated closely to ensure that all airports in the province are airworthy 24 hours a day.

At present, Hubei civil aviation has made it available for international and domestic cargo charter flight and general aviation transport, which mainly serves transport of medical personnel, supplies and cargo for emergency relief purposes. And frontline civil aviation staff in Hubei has been working hard to ensure safe and efficient operation of supporting flights from outside.

As of February 3, Wuhan Tianhe Airport has handled 321 emergency relief flights, transporting more than 14 500 passengers, and delivering more than 1 200 tons of epidemic prevention supplies. Meanwhile, general aviation enterprises in Hubei also participated in the transport of emergency rescue supplies through general aviation transport teams, which was established by Hubei SSMB by different operation types and aircraft models.

At present, Hubei civil aviation system is coordinating operation mechanism and cooperating with provincial and municipal emergency departments. Airlines have arranged for sufficient capacity, and each airport is well airworthy. All of these have enabled efficient access by air and possibility of rapid transfer of all kinds of supplies and personnel.

Hubei ATM Sub-Bureau

Assuring Smooth Air Passages for Fight Against Virus

“Hello, Wuhan, radar contact, radar guidance, fly directly over Wuhan, descend to 6300 and maintain.” said Chen Quanfeng, a controller of Hubei Air Traffic Management Sub-Bureau, staring at screen in his seat and holding the microphone in his hand. After more than 10 days of quarantine, he, together with other departments of the Sub-Bureau and offices of the Control Center, has completed several important ATM support tasks for transport of medical personnel and supplies.

On January 26, Hubei ATM Sub-Bureau set up a commando team on outbreak containment to work in quarantine to ensure smooth transport of supplies needed to fight against the epidemic. Members of the Party leadership of the Sub-Bureau took the lead in coordination, and joined the quarantined duty with the commando team. 92 employees from various departments also asked for battling the epidemic and firmly held fast to their posts to safeguard smooth air passage for transport of personnel and supplies in short. For those who decided to enter the quarantine duty protection zone, it means they won’t be able to take care of their families even when the epidemic continues to escalate, and will have to hold on for at least 12 days.

Chen Quanfeng and his father Chen Dijie signed up for the commando team at the first time. Chen Dijie is a senior meteorological observer who has stuck to his post at the Observation Office of the Meteorological Station of Hubei ATM Sub-Bureau. As the outbreak containment efforts went into full swing, volunteer medical staff and emergency rescue supplies were continuously being transported to Wuhan and other places of Hubei by air. In order to assist fast take-off and landing for epidemic-related flights, the Sub-Bureau formulated an optimal commanding plan, covering from the acceptance, preparation and release of flight plans, to guidance of air routes, selection of landing methods, arrangement of ground taxiing routes and parking positions, and personnel in all posts have been instructed to coordinate in advance, carefully organize and arrange operation to realize all-process refined support from air to ground. As of February 6, the Sub-Bureau has fully guaranteed operation for 403 epidemic-related flights.

In addition, the Sub-Bureau has also opened up a fast and efficient channel for epidemic-related transport via general aviation, which has helped save precious time. On February 1, the B-7859 and B-70EH aircraft of Qingdao Helicopter Aviation Co., Ltd. took off from Hannan Airport in succession, and went to Optics Valley of Wuhan to load medical supplies such as masks, protective suits, and then flew to Yichang and Xiangyang; Shanghai Kingwing also sent aircraft to take off from the East Campus of Hubei General Hospital for medical supplies in Xiantan, which was then transported to the Xinhua Road Stadium.