Boeing and Kenya Airways have partnered with First Baptist Church in Baytown, Texas, to transport medical equipment to Kajiado, Kenya, on a newly delivered 787 Dreamliner from the company's North Charleston, S.C., facility.The supplies, including examination tables and other equipment, will benefit Kenyan children served by the Africa Inland Church Childcare Center in Kajiado. The center provides care and treatment for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.
Boeing and Kenya Airways have partnered with First Baptist Church in Baytown, Texas, to transport medical equipment to Kajiado, Kenya, on a newly delivered 787 Dreamliner from the company's North Charleston, S.C., facility.
The supplies, including examination tables and other equipment, will benefit Kenyan children served by the Africa Inland Church Childcare Center in Kajiado. The center provides care and treatment for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.
The delivery marks the first time that a flight participating in Boeing's Humanitarian Delivery Flights program has originated from South Carolina. This is also Kenya Airways' first humanitarian flight in partnership with Boeing using a 787. The airline's last Humanitarian Delivery Flight was in October 2013 with the Kenyan-flag carrier's first 777-300ER (Extended Range) delivered from Everett, Wash.
The Boeing Humanitarian Delivery Flights program began in 1992, and has since then worked in partnership with nearly 50 different carriers worldwide to transport more than one million pounds (453,592 kilograms) of relief items over 150 humanitarian flights.
In August, Boeing, South African Airways (SAA) and SkyNRG announced a collaboration to make sustainable aviation biofuel from a new type of tobacco plant.This initiative builds on cooperation between Boeing and SAA to develop renewable jet fuel in ways that support South Africa's goals for public health as well as economic and rural development. SkyNRG is expanding production of the hybrid plant called Solaris as an energy crop that farmers can grow instead of traditional tobacco. Test farming of the plants, which are nicotine-free, is underway in South Africa with biofuel production expected from large and small farms in the next few years. Initially, oil from the plant's seeds will be converted into jet fuel. In coming years, Boeing expects emerging technologies to increase South Africa's aviation biofuel production from the rest of the plant.
In October 2013, Boeing and SAA said they would work together to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain in Southern Africa. As part of that effort, they are working with the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials to position farmers with small plots of land to grow biofuel feedstocks that provide socioeconomic value to communities without harming food supplies, fresh water or land use.
Published Oct 22, 2014 10am EDT / 7am PDT / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST
Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Get the latest insights, trends, and innovations to help position yourself at the forefront of sustainable business leadership—delivered straight to your inbox.