For the third time in history, the US civil reserve air fleet has been activated to assist with the evacuations in Afghanistan. On this occasion, it’s made up of 18 jets from variety of US airlines including American Airlines, United, Hawaiian, & Delta.
The Defence Department activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, a nearly 70-year-old programme created in the wake of the Berlin airlift to provide a backup by commercial air carriers for a “major national defence emergency.”
The airline jets will not fly directly to Kabul, but instead to places like Al Udeid in Qatar, the US’s biggest military base in the Middle East, to assist with the onward evacuation.
Last Sunday, United Airlines’ first flight under CRAF flew from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport to Al Udeid Air Base.
Qatar’s role is in this evacuation is vital, as Qatar has mediated between the Taliban and the ousted Afghan government, and the Taliban and the US. It means in this situation Qatar has become one of the few countries on earth to currently be able to facilitate the safe movement of evacuees through Taliban checkpoints, into Kabul airport, onto evacuation C-17 airlifter aircraft for rescue flights to Al Udeid — where the people are safely accommodated on arrival, have their papers processed, meet with medics and are Covid tested, etc until their onward flight with the US reserve airline fleet.
Qatar is co-ordinating between Nato, the UN, the UK, the US and with the Taliban to determine a timeframe for the rest of the evacuation process. European nations, including American allies Germany and the United Kingdom, had pressed for a longer window to continue evacuations past the deadline next week. CIA director William Burns even travelled to Kabul on Monday to meet the Taliban’s top political leader. However, Biden has stuck to the deadline, even after an emergency online summit of the G7 nations.
United Airlines is using four of its Boeing 777-300 jets, which seat 350 passengers, for the CRAF order. The Chicago-based airline said it is still assessing the impact to its operation but that it will likely be minimal.
United’s cabin crew were able to request to operate CRAF flights, and crew receive extra pay for such an operation.
“We embrace the responsibility to quickly respond to international challenges like these and use our expertise to ensure the safe passage of our fellow countrymen and women as well as those who have risked their lives to help keep them safe,” United said in a statement.
Delta said it will have “multiple relief flights arriving back in the United States beginning Monday morning.” The carrier said it is using spare aircraft and that commercial flights are not currently affected. The carrier on Sunday was positioning planes in Germany, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
American Airlines said it will be ready to deploy three wide-body planes for CRAF starting Monday. “American will work to minimise the impact to customers as the airline temporarily removes these aircraft from our operation,” it said in a statement. “The airline appreciates customers’ patience and understanding as it works to accommodate flights.”
Poland said yesterday it had halted its airlift evacuations from Kabul’s international airport over safety concerns.
Marcin Przydacz, a Polish deputy foreign minister, said that a group taken from Kabul and currently in Uzbekistan was the last evacuated by Poland. Another plane is on its way to Warsaw. He said his nation made its decision after consulting with the US and British officials.
“After a long analysis of reports on the security situation, we cannot risk the lives of our diplomats and of our soldiers any longer,” Przydacz said. A number of troops will remain briefly to carry out some procedures that include closing the base, he said.
Germany will keep evacuating people from Afghanistan as long as it is responsible to do so, Chancellor Angela Merkel told conservative lawmakers, adding, however, that this is only possible with the United States, many have indicated.
South Korean military aircraft are carrying out operations to bring to the country Afghans who aided Seoul’s efforts to help rebuild the war-torn nation, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday quoting the foreign ministry.
Three military planes were sent to Afghanistan and a neighbouring country to “bring to South Korea Afghan workers, who supported our government’s activities in Afghanistan, and their family members,” the ministry said.
Japan is also deploying its aircraft to transport Self-Defense Force (SDF) personnel who will evacuate Japanese expatriates, local embassy staff and others from Afghanistan, according to NHK news.
Japan’s defence ministry is making final arrangements to dispatch the Boeing 777 on Wednesday at the earliest to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, where the SDF mission will be based.
The government of Japan said it will only airlift evacuees until the deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan at the end of August. One of the three Japanese aircraft has already arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday and the other two are expected to arrive on Wednesday.
The author is an aviation analyst. Twitter handle: @AlexInAir
The Defence Department activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, a nearly 70-year-old programme created in the wake of the Berlin airlift to provide a backup by commercial air carriers for a “major national defence emergency.”
The airline jets will not fly directly to Kabul, but instead to places like Al Udeid in Qatar, the US’s biggest military base in the Middle East, to assist with the onward evacuation.
Last Sunday, United Airlines’ first flight under CRAF flew from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport to Al Udeid Air Base.
Qatar’s role is in this evacuation is vital, as Qatar has mediated between the Taliban and the ousted Afghan government, and the Taliban and the US. It means in this situation Qatar has become one of the few countries on earth to currently be able to facilitate the safe movement of evacuees through Taliban checkpoints, into Kabul airport, onto evacuation C-17 airlifter aircraft for rescue flights to Al Udeid — where the people are safely accommodated on arrival, have their papers processed, meet with medics and are Covid tested, etc until their onward flight with the US reserve airline fleet.
Qatar is co-ordinating between Nato, the UN, the UK, the US and with the Taliban to determine a timeframe for the rest of the evacuation process. European nations, including American allies Germany and the United Kingdom, had pressed for a longer window to continue evacuations past the deadline next week. CIA director William Burns even travelled to Kabul on Monday to meet the Taliban’s top political leader. However, Biden has stuck to the deadline, even after an emergency online summit of the G7 nations.
United Airlines is using four of its Boeing 777-300 jets, which seat 350 passengers, for the CRAF order. The Chicago-based airline said it is still assessing the impact to its operation but that it will likely be minimal.
United’s cabin crew were able to request to operate CRAF flights, and crew receive extra pay for such an operation.
“We embrace the responsibility to quickly respond to international challenges like these and use our expertise to ensure the safe passage of our fellow countrymen and women as well as those who have risked their lives to help keep them safe,” United said in a statement.
Delta said it will have “multiple relief flights arriving back in the United States beginning Monday morning.” The carrier said it is using spare aircraft and that commercial flights are not currently affected. The carrier on Sunday was positioning planes in Germany, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
American Airlines said it will be ready to deploy three wide-body planes for CRAF starting Monday. “American will work to minimise the impact to customers as the airline temporarily removes these aircraft from our operation,” it said in a statement. “The airline appreciates customers’ patience and understanding as it works to accommodate flights.”
Poland said yesterday it had halted its airlift evacuations from Kabul’s international airport over safety concerns.
Marcin Przydacz, a Polish deputy foreign minister, said that a group taken from Kabul and currently in Uzbekistan was the last evacuated by Poland. Another plane is on its way to Warsaw. He said his nation made its decision after consulting with the US and British officials.
“After a long analysis of reports on the security situation, we cannot risk the lives of our diplomats and of our soldiers any longer,” Przydacz said. A number of troops will remain briefly to carry out some procedures that include closing the base, he said.
Germany will keep evacuating people from Afghanistan as long as it is responsible to do so, Chancellor Angela Merkel told conservative lawmakers, adding, however, that this is only possible with the United States, many have indicated.
South Korean military aircraft are carrying out operations to bring to the country Afghans who aided Seoul’s efforts to help rebuild the war-torn nation, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday quoting the foreign ministry.
Three military planes were sent to Afghanistan and a neighbouring country to “bring to South Korea Afghan workers, who supported our government’s activities in Afghanistan, and their family members,” the ministry said.
Japan is also deploying its aircraft to transport Self-Defense Force (SDF) personnel who will evacuate Japanese expatriates, local embassy staff and others from Afghanistan, according to NHK news.
Japan’s defence ministry is making final arrangements to dispatch the Boeing 777 on Wednesday at the earliest to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, where the SDF mission will be based.
The government of Japan said it will only airlift evacuees until the deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan at the end of August. One of the three Japanese aircraft has already arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday and the other two are expected to arrive on Wednesday.
The author is an aviation analyst. Twitter handle: @AlexInAir