Amazon supports weekly humanitarian relief flights to Venezuela in first-of-its-kind collaboration

Amazon said it will support weekly humanitarian air delivery flights into Caracas, Venezuela, in a collaboration created to respond to the twin earthquakes that hit northern Venezuela on June 24. More than 650,000 people were reported to be in need of aid after the disaster. The operation will involve seven flights per week and was made possible through coordination among Amazon, Airlink, the U.S. State Department, and the UN World Food Programme. The State Department will handle access with local authorities, Amazon will donate aircraft and fuel at no cost, Airlink will plan each flight based on nonprofit needs, and WFP will manage logistics in Venezuela. The program is intended to avoid delays and the risk of a “second disaster” caused by uncoordinated in-kind donations. Amazon linked the effort to its broader disaster-relief logistics network, citing more than 26 million emergency supplies delivered in response to 200+ disasters. The company said the collaboration demonstrates public-private coordination to relieve bottlenecks.