In February KlasJet undertook one of its most demanding assignments to date; the repatriation from Ghana to South Korea of a group of workers who had tested positive for COVID-19.

Following a request from the workers' employers, the team at KlasJet private jet charter, a member of the Avia Solutions Group, drew on its accumulated experience to set the wheels of repatriation in motion. Over five days and 10 flights (including aircraft positioning) many obstacles had to be overcome, such as overfly permissions from 14 countries on three continents, advance crew positioning and safe accommodation, COVID-19 testing arrangements, challenging insurance issues, along with on-ground transportation arrangements and more.

From initial request to take off time took only five business days; usually a project of such magnitude could be expected to take up to two weeks to navigate, says KlasJet. To overcome such a tight deadline, while negotiating all of the logistical, medical and operational hurdles, an experienced operations team and crew worked closely with an onboard medical team to ensure safety was prioritised.

Operating a B737-500 across multiple live flight sectors, namely Accra - N'Djamena - Cairo - Trabzon - Novosibirsk - Seoul, the aircraft had to be compartmentalised to separate positive passengers, crew, staff and other personnel, to control any spread of the virus. Multiple crews needed to be organised, tested, repositioned, transported and accommodated safely in isolation. Specially prepared and packaged food had to be provided and delivered along with the requirement to dispose of any waste in a virus-free manner. Ground transport arrangements had to be orchestrated in minute detail, and in the event of any unforeseen technical issues an aircraft technician from KlasJet's sister company FL Technics was also added to the crew.

The mission in its entirety was only made possible in such a truncated period due to KlasJet's team of skilled professionals. Throughout the pandemic, the team has amassed all the knowledge required to implement unique processes and procedures in a previously unfamiliar environment.

According to Ugnius Valiauga, KlasJet COO: “This entire and complicated process was only made possible and successful as part of the KlasJet team's continuous improvement policy. Whenever and wherever we find room for improvement or to gather new knowledge and new skills, our team will come together to address all of the components, which could make us even more capable to handle every future unique request. Judging by what we have already achieved before and during the pandemic, our teams are proof that we have the operational readiness and the right attitude to deal with whatever comes our way.”