UN Humanitarian Air Service
- 21
- operations worldwide
- 355,000-PLUS
- passengers transported
- 394
- destinations reached
The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), managed by the World Food Programme (WFP), offers safe, reliable, cost-efficient and effective passenger and light cargo transport for the wider humanitarian community to and from areas of crisis. It is the only humanitarian air service that gives equal access to all humanitarian entities.
UNHAS responds to the need for access to the world's most remote and challenging locations, often under precarious security conditions, where no safe surface transport or other viable commercial aviation options are available.
Sometimes disasters – such as an earthquake in Haiti or Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar – leave air transport as the only mean of access. At other times, it is conflict that puts entire areas beyond the reach of land transport or commercial flights.
In 2024 UNHAS transported over 355,000 passengers and 4,925 metric tons of light humanitarian cargo such as medical supplies and equipment to almost 400 remote and hard-to-reach destinations.
To fulfil its mission, in 2024 UNHAS used a fleet of diverse aircraft types, including helicopters, chartered from commercial air operators that are compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organization Standards and Recommended Practices, and the United Nations Aviation Standards for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Air Transport Operations.
How to access UNHAS
In focus
For Burkina Faso’s cut-off communities, WFP food airlifts can be lifesavers
Story | 30 May 2024
UNHAS: An airborne lifeline amid roadblocks and climate shocks in southern Africa
Story | 19 February 2024
UNHAS at 20: Humanitarian response planes and helicopters touch down in tough places
Story | 16 February 2024