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Aer Lingus plane sent to pick up €20m worth of PPE from China has landed in Beijing

Aer Lingus flight EI9018 left Dublin Airport at 10.53 am this morning.

LAST UPDATE | 28 Mar 2020

THE AER LINGUS plane sent to China to collect €20 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) for Irish healthcare workers has landed in Beijing this evening. 

The plane, called St Ronan, landed just after 8.15pm (Irish time). 

The Airbus A330-302 cargo plane will be loaded with PPE including masks, gowns and goggles before it makes the over 8,000 km flight back to Ireland. 

Speaking to reporters today, Health Minister Simon Harris said the Aer Lingus flight is the “first of many flights” that will be travelling abroad to collect equipment. 

He said the equipment picked up in China will be distributed to Irish healthcare workers tomorrow evening. 

As the plane departed Dublin this morning, air traffic controllers from the Irish Aviation Authority radioed a good luck message to the crew of the plane:;

TheJournal.ie / YouTube

Air traffic control: Roger, that’s great, thanks, I have a message for you as well if you’re ready to copy.

EI9018: Yeah go ahead.

Air traffic control: We’d like to wish you and all the crew a safe and successful flight and also to say a big thank you for all your efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic from everyone here at the Irish Aviation Authority. Bíodh turas sábháilte agat [Have a safe journey].

EI9018: Go raibh maith agat, I’ll pass it on to the rest of the crew, and we’re quite happy to be able to do it. Thank you.

PastedImage-78156 Some of the PPE awaiting collection in China AnneOConnorHSE AnneOConnorHSE

“We usually buy about €15 million worth of what we call personal protective equipment, face mask, gowns, goggles, shields, etc. in the year. This year, we’re going to spend €225 million,” Harris told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

The question every healthcare worker wants to know is when is it going to arrive, the first plane is your back from China tomorrow, about €20 million worth. And then I think there are 10 flights due between then and the first of April. So from tomorrow, we will have flights arriving on a daily basis, bringing millions and millions of pieces of personal protective equipment. 

PastedImage-28658 Flight EI9018's location at 2.45 pm on Saturday. flightradar24.com flightradar24.com

A shortage of PPE for healthcare workers was raised in the Dáil during the week and a number of campaigns are underway calling for donations of equipment to Irish hospitals.

Doctor’s working in St James’s Hospital in Dublin made an appeal this week to various industries for donations of PPE

PastedImage-17656 A worker at Chinese end of the supply chain. AnneOConnorHSE AnneOConnorHSE

Speaking on Thursday, Chief Clinical Officer at the HSE Dr Colm Henry said that stock of certain items is low but that the HSE is confident that stocks will last until the new supply arrives.

“We’re in discussions with our hospitals community to make sure to reinforce the message as to how they should be used appropriately by those people who most need them,” he said. 

“The first plane will be leaving Sunday, it will be landing, I don’t have exact details but as soon as it comes from China on Monday and distribution will begin immediately. As I said, to the sites that are most the depleted and the sites with the greatest need in terms of concentration of Covid-19 patients.”

- With reporting by Nicky Ryan

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    Mute Jay
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:19 PM

    29 going on 49. You are only young once pal.

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    Mute P. J.
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    Apr 13th 2025, 10:36 PM

    @Jay:
    That’s the only type who would keep a money diary!!
    Have you noticed how many accountants and money managers come up?

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    Mute George Bowling
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:57 PM

    Maybe if the journal offered a free bet to write one of these diaries we’d all finally get the account of the young life of the hard drinking tearaway whose rent this week is entirely dependent on the 3.30 at Kempton that we all secretly hope to read whenever we open one of these articles.

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    Mute P. J.
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    Apr 13th 2025, 10:33 PM

    @George Bowling:
    Haha, it would have to be a lot more than one free bet to get someone like that to keep an accurate money diary

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    Mute Laney Sinc
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:06 PM

    Youth is wasted on the young.

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    Mute Lance Taylor
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    Apr 14th 2025, 5:23 AM

    @Laney Sinc: he is a very rich one and saving a pretty penny

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    Mute Trish
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    Apr 13th 2025, 9:23 PM

    Well done. I think you’re doing great.

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    Mute Thomas O'Brien
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    Apr 13th 2025, 9:51 PM

    Woke up, got out of bed, dragged the comb across my head. Made my way downstairs and drank a cup and looking up I noticed I was late.
    Found my coat and grabbed my hat, made the bus in seconds flat.
    Found my way upstairs and had a smoke and somebody spoke and I went into a dream.

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    Mute Thomas Meaney
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    Apr 13th 2025, 8:50 PM

    I can only assume the engineer is either Elec, Mech or similar. His remuneration shows the exploitation large companies get away with. You can be guaranteed they are charging the client double if not more for his role. Of course I’m guessing but this would be typical of construction companies. After all the years studying being an engineer is no longer seen as it was once before.

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    Mute Dan The Man
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    Apr 13th 2025, 9:12 PM

    @Thomas Meaney: He could grow a pair and go work for himself and double his salary immediately minimum.

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Apr 14th 2025, 4:47 AM

    no kids, carreer oriented and no life

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    Mute Dan The Man
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    Apr 14th 2025, 6:05 AM

    @Dominic Leleu: People don’t seem to realise you pay for selfish choices at the end in old age when loneliness and isolation kick in.

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