Qatar Airways raises awareness of Breast Cancer with ‘Think Pink’ flight

By Andrew Pentol |

Female passengers received an exclusive ‘Think Pink’ service on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner including limited-edition pink Bric’s amenity kits.

Qatar Airways has demonstrated its support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month by ‘drawing’ a pink ribbon in the sky.

Flight QR9901 took off from Hamad International Airport on Saturday 17 October at 09:00am local time. The duration of the flight was 65 minutes and the aircraft took a special route to create the ribbon image above Qatar. Its flight path was displayed in real-time by various flight tracking sites.

The ‘Think Pink’ flight was exclusively operated by women, from the ground operations, technical, and dispatch teams to the flight deck and cabin crew.

Many people tracked the Qatar Airways flight throughout its duration and tuned in live to watch the plane drawing the Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Ribbon in the skies

Female passengers were invited as special guests of the airline and received an exclusive ‘Think Pink’ service on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This included an announcement from the captain, pink-themed food and beverage treats and Qatar Airways ‘Think Pink’ wristbands and limited-edition pink Bric’s amenity kits.

COMMITTED TO THE CAUSE

Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker said: “Qatar Airways is a very strong supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all the incredibly hard work that goes into research and development to help beat breast cancer. Together we hope to reach as many people as possible and help save lives.”

The ‘Think Pink’ flight lasted for 65 minutes and was exclusively operated by women.

Salam Al Shawa, Senior Vice President Marketing and Corporate Communications, Qatar Airways commented: “Qatar Airways is committed to supporting the fight against breast cancer. Our efforts and focus on raising awareness to our tens of thousands of employees, passengers, as well the wider community reflects Qatar Airways’ dedication towards this cause.”

Nabeela Fakhri, Senior Vice President Nationalisation and Special Projects, Qatar Airways said Qatar Airways was dedicated to spreading awareness of breast cancer. She remarked: “This year, we have planned a range of awareness-raising initiatives to encourage everyone to take all the necessary precautions to ensure their wellbeing. Particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to ensure that cancer patients’ early detection and screening services should remain a priority.”

Flight QR9901 is the latest in a month-long programme organised by the airline in October to raise awareness of breast cancer prevention and control for its employees, passengers and general public.

Earlier this month, Qatar Airways introduced an exclusive ‘Think Pink’ experience for passengers in the sky as well in its lounges, offering custom-designed limited-edition amenity kits and pink-themed special menus on select flights throughout October.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has reported extremely low numbers of Covid-19 cases onboard its aircraft. This is after operating more than 4.6 million passenger-flown sectors and over 33 billion revenue passenger kilometres on more than 37,000 Covid-19-free flights worldwide since February 2020.

The recent introduction of Honeywell’s Ultraviolet Cabin System on Qatar Airways’ flights has helped prevent  Covid-19 cases onboard.

The success of the airline’s Covid-19 monitoring, detection and hygiene programme has resulted in more than 99.988% of passengers travelling Covid-19-free on board, with significantly less than 1% of passengers confirmed to have tested positive by local authorities following a Qatar Airways flight.

In addition, 0.002% of operating cabin crew have been affected on board to date, with no new cases recorded since the airline introduced its full PPE inflight uniform in May 2020. Passenger face shields on all flights were also implemented.

Al Baker said: “These latest statistics are a clear indication that, with the adoption of the right measures such as meticulous on-board safety, hygiene and social distancing procedures in place at airports and compliance with the testing and entry requirements of local authorities, air travel does not need to be a source of concern to passengers.

“From the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have introduced the most rigorous and stringent virus monitoring, detection and on-board hygiene programme in existence within the global aviation community. As an industry, we want to ensure the recovery of commercial aviation by encouraging passengers to feel confident that they are safe and protected, from departure to arrival, with all airlines.”

RISK-BASED APPROACH

He added:  “Our risk-based approach has seen us adopt a number of additional measures such as the introduction of PCR testing for passengers departing from ‘high risk’ countries and the use of the most advanced Hepa air filtration systems on board our aircraft, wherever possible.

“This is in addition to the recent introduction of Honeywell’s Ultraviolet Cabin System, operated by Qatar Aviation Services, as an additional step in the cleaning of our aircraft and yet more evidence of Qatar Airways commitment to enhancing its safety practices. We have also done everything possible to protect our crew and employees from exposure to infection, with specialist onboard infection prevention training and the introduction of full PPE in-flight uniform in May completely eradicating this risk to date.

According to the airline, 0.002% of operating cabin crew have been affected on board to date, with no new cases recorded since the introduction of the carrier’s full PPE inflight uniform.

“Given the extremely low numbers of cases travelling on flights and the even lower risk of transmission, with a recent IATA study finding 1 in 27 million travellers had contracted Covid-19 on board a flight, passengers can travel with peace of mind with the knowledge that flying continues to be the safest form of travel.”

Al Baker concluded:  “Whilst these numbers may be low, we will continue to fastidiously monitor global developments in the fight to control the spread of Covid-19, as well as work closely with local health authorities to support with tracing activities whenever a positive case is confirmed and they have travelled with us within the time range of the incubation period.

“As an industry, we must remain vigilant and avoid any complacency, but ensure that we have strong safety and security procedures in place to instil confidence in passengers and provide reassurance, whether they are travelling home, visiting friends and family, or taking a leisure trip.”

 

 

 

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