14 Nov England expands support of humanitarian flight service in the Congo

The British Department for International Development (DFID), which has since 2004 financed Air Serv International’s humanitarian flights in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), recently expanded its support to add a Cessna Caravan in Lubumbashi.

Air Serv International opened its Lubumbashi base in 2004 with DFID funding, to serve the growing needs of the humanitarian community supporting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Katanga Province. The DRC, roughly the size of Western Europe and home to over 60 million people, has been plagued with violence, instability, disease and extreme poverty. Of some one million IDPs nationwide, almost 100,000 live in Katanga, served by 23 NGOs that rely on Air Serv International for aviation support. World Vision, Concern, MSF ACF and others provide relief and rehabilitation for these people, while Air Serv International flies them to the camps where these IDPs and returnees live.

Air Serv International has more than 23 years and over a quarter of a million hours of flight time with no flight related fatalities, and currently operates 19 aircraft worldwide. It is committed to improving conditions and become a catalyst for positive change by helping the peoples of our host countries help themselves, and supporting our partner humanitarian aid agencies with air service to some of the most remote and underserved places in the world. Air Serv International working with our partners provides relief, rehabilitation, development, aviation, environmental protection and restoration, democracy building, medical evacuations, and security evacuation services throughout the third and fourth worlds.