Coronavirus Australia: Wuhan care flight lands in Sydney with essential medical supplies

It landed amid strict security measures at Sydney Airport last night with 90 tonnes of medical cargo on board.

Workers enter the plane from Wuhan in Sydney. Picture: Adam Yip

A cargo flight bringing 90 tonnes of medical supplies to Australia from China’s coronavirus capital Wuhan, will leave Sydney at midday.

The Suparna Airlines flight landed after 9pm on Wednesday, where staff in head-to-toe protective clothing unloaded the cargo, including personal protective equipment and respirators.

It is scheduled to return to Wuhan rather than the airline’s base in Shanghai, raising the possibility further deliveries could be ahead.

Wuhan’s Tianhe International Airport only reopened on Tuesday after being closed to all but authorised repatriation flights since January 23.

Little information was available about the cargo flight with the Department of Home Affairs only confirming late Wednesday that it was aware of the flight.

A spokeswoman later responded to questions from The Australian about the flight’s cargo, which she described as “crucial” in the current environment.

The Boeing 747 freighter’s crew is believed to have spent the night in an airport hotel. Although airline crew are exempt from mandatory two-week lockdowns, they are expected to either stay at the airport, or travel straight to their accommodation and not go out.

There was no record of flight (Y8) 7447 in Sydney’s arrivals schedule, and flight radar tracking company flightradar24 recorded the destination as “not available”. The Australian On Wednesday, a government spokeswoman said the plane was carrying 90 tonnes of medical ­supplies, including personal ­protective equipment and respirators.

“Flights like this are crucial in ensuring the ongoing supply of these critical goods,” she said.

Freighter flights are normally crewed by between two and four pilots, all of whom would be ­allowed to overnight in a hotel.

“International crew are permitted to transit through Australia but must remain in the port or ­airport, or self-isolate in accommodation for the duration of their transit,” a Department of Home Affairs spokesman said.

“Quarantine and isolation ­arrangements in each state are the responsibility for each state and territory government.”

After landing, the plane taxied to a freight apron of Sydney Airport, northwest of the inter­national terminal, where it was met by cargo handlers.

An airport spokesman said the handlers would “follow the strictest hygiene and infection-control protocols in line with advice from health authorities”. It was unclear when the Suparna Airlines 747 would return to China, or what it might take with it. 

Wearing protective clothing, airport staff approach Suparna Airline flight Y87447 from Wuhan to collect medical supplies in Sydney on Wednesday night. Photographer: Adam Yip

The airline has been carrying medical supplies from China to Europe and the US in recent weeks, using its 12-year-old 747, registered B-1340.

Medical aid has been at the ­centre of the Chinese communist regime’s bid to rebuild its global image, as it comes under increasing criticism from US President Donald Trump and others for ­failing to suppress the virus when it first broke out in Wuhan.

The flight was the first from Wuhan to Sydney since January 23, when China banned all outbound travel from the city to try to contain the spread of deadly COVID-19 virus.

At that time, passengers on the China Eastern Airlines service were met by biosecurity officers but were not required to go into quarantine.

Qantas conducted two “rescue” flights from Wuhan to Australia in February, landing at Exmouth and Darwin.

All passengers on the services were quarantined for two weeks at Christmas Island and the Howard Springs work camp. 

A total of 2571 deaths were officially attributed to COVID-19 in Wuhan, and as of Monday there were 574 current cases in the city. Concerns have been raised about the lack of quarantine requirements for international flight crews in Australia, but Qantas ­pilots have called for the exemptions to remain in place.

Australian and International Pilots Association president Mark Sedgwick said health advice stated there was no elevated risk of infection where pilots and crew followed all relevant protocols.