As the country scrambles to deal with the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic, local companies Aegean Airlines and Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) have joined forces in a solidarity campaign and are offering 10 free flights to bring precious healthcare supplies to Greece.

Hellenic Petroleum will cover the cost of fuel by way of its EKO subsidiary, while Aegean Airlines will provide the aircraft and crews and take responsibility for the other costs of flying.

The flights will be to and from Asia (mainly China) or anywhere else that healthcare supplies are produced and Aegean airplanes can fly to, following coordination with the Deputy Ministry for Civil Protection.

In order to increase its cargo capacity, Aegean has already implemented modifications to an Airbus 320 and an Airbus 321 aircraft in its fleet.

In this way, the volume available will be three times that of a conventional A320 aircraft, i.e. 120 cubic meters and 170 cubic meters for the A321.

Hellenic Petroleum and EKO will also keep their facilities open at all airports around the country in order to serve any refueling needs that arise.

This article was originally published on ekathimerini.com.