Flexible funding to boost airfreight capacity with Airlink

Our partnership with Airlink in 2025: 

• 1.15m crisis-affected people reached
• $ 3.21m transportation savings for NGOs
• 16 NGOs supported in 8 countries over 15 humanitarian missions
• Over 913,000 people provided with medicine and 260,000 with nutritional aid through $ 1.5 million of transportation savings

Aid on MASkargo plane after Myanmar earthquake (photo credit Airlink via International Federation of Red Cross in Malaysia)

It has never been more important to ensure shrinking NGO budgets stretch as far as possible. In countries like Afghanistan, Haiti, South Sudan and Sudan – experiencing long-standing, complex crises – securing funding and resources has been especially hard. Equally, previously reliable rapid responses to natural disasters and conflicts have been put at risk, as the impact of humanitarian aid cuts sets in.

At this critical time for private and non-profit sector collaboration, 2025 saw the first full year of our partnership with Airlink. Across 15 humanitarian missions together, we rapidly and efficiently provided flexible funding to release additional airfreight capacity, leaving NGOs better able to allocate their resources to life-saving aid.

Collaborating to enhance NGO outcomes

Airlink works with over 50 commercial and cargo airlines and more than 200 national and international organisations to transport humanitarian aid to both long-term crises and rapid-onset disasters. We have committed € 7.5 million over four years to support their missions, helping to provide stability and continuity for the humanitarian sector. 

As Bethany Holland, Airlink’s Associate Director for Humanitarian Programmes, said, “Our partnership with the Airbus Foundation allows us to respond in new and creative ways. It might be coordinating a $ 300,000 charter flight or securing $ 10,000 of spare commercial aircraft capacity. Together, we ensure all available capacity benefits the NGOs we work with.” 

Combining our flexible support with Airlink’s network coordination, we were able to scale our collective impact, boosting capacity and freeing up more of NGOs’ limited financial resources.

Multi-way partnerships for better outcomes

The multiplier effect of flexible funding

In recent years, there has been a growing need for resources for long-term, often-forgotten crises. Airlink is one of the partners we work with to support organisations working in countries facing these challenges. Bethany explains: “Many of Airlink’s NGO partners have had to either downsize or pull out of these protracted crises. But with the Airbus Foundation’s support, we made sure that we could continue supporting the movement of supplies.”

The scale of the crisis in Sudan was – and remains – unimaginable. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 6.8 million people across Darfur alone are experiencing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. We worked with Airlink to transport 78 tonnes of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF) so the International Medical Corps (IMC) could provide for people in urgent need. 

Normally, a shipment of this size would cost $ 700,000 - a price so high that IMC could only afford to send 20% of the required supplies. By partnering with Airlink, we turned that around. Airlink used its industry partnerships to secure over $ 420,000 in free shipping and storage, while we covered the remaining transport at just a third of the usual market rate. Together, we ensured that 100% of these life-saving supplies reached Sudan.

Local community member aided by INTERSOS, ShelterBox and Action Medeor in Sudan (photo credit Airlink via partners listed above)

The shipment’s success meant that over 7,000 children under five received food essential for their survival. As Bethany says: “I can’t overstate the importance of the Sudan missions, where people are fleeing from unimaginable atrocities and clinics have run out of urgently-needed supplies.” 

Shipments to Afghanistan were similarly time-critical, as communities faced ongoing displacement, conflict and the devastating effects of recent earthquakes, floods and droughts. This year, our partnership generated $ 1.5 million of transportation savings for three NGOs, providing more than 913,000 people with medicines and 260,000 people with nutritional aid.

Reaching more countries with rapid-response emergency aid

As well as supporting missions that responded to protracted crises, we remained ready to work with Airlink in response to rapid-onset disasters. On 28 March, a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar. “This was the first major test for aid organisations following the dissolution of USAID,” explained Bethany. We collaborated with Airlink to mobilise a charter flight carrying 51 tonnes of aid for an estimated 55,000 people in need.  

When Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on 28 October, damage to the island’s ports put sea freight routes out of action, driving airfreight prices beyond the reach of most humanitarian organisations. We reacted on the same day, using Airlink’s network to secure a discounted charter flight that delivered the first World Food Programme batch of aid.

World Food Programme aid reaches community after Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica (photo credit Airlink via World Food Programme)

In November, Cyclone Ditwah hit Sri Lanka, bringing heavy rain and widespread flooding, displacing millions of people and depriving them of food, their livelihoods and essential infrastructure. Many communities became totally inaccessible by road. We responded by supporting an Airlink mission through funding and connections with airline and helicopter customers. This enabled the transport of water, sanitation, and essential nutritional and medical supplies.