The sudden wave of the Covid 19 pandemic has caused countries and companies to react rapidly in order to minimize the impact sustained. This resulted in multiple groups of people stranded in foreign countries & on vessels for unknown lengths of time and as the weeks progressed, it was certain that the most effective way to move crew off and on board the vessels is through the utilisation of charter flights.
Consequently, Travel Cue received an influx of charter requests from customers and non-customers for assistance with crew change not only to assist them off a vessel, but to get them to a vessel for the sake of business continuity. This service extension proved to be valuable as we saw a seamless movement of crew which can be attributed to the efforts of our team & our delivery during this difficult period.
Organising & executing charters has proved to be no easy task, especially operating in a field that is not within our usual scope. Needless to say, Travel Cue has persisted and our most recent charter this week for one of the largest marine companies saw the successful crew change to & from a vessel. Upon this success and the joy from executing this, we were further elated to receive the following feedback;
“Just wanted to thank you on behalf of < client name redacted >, for all the hard work you and your team put in to help us get our 19 Filipino seafarers home at last. It is much appreciated, and we will not forget what you managed to do when other travel providers just gave up or didn’t even respond. We look forward to seeing you once things are back to normal.”
If your company requires charter flights for crew repatriation, please contact us on connect@connectcue.com.
Given the nature of country specific & government specific regulations and border restrictions, it is imperative that companies exploring the charter flights route give ample time for coordination (2-3 weeks) since flight operations are still subject to multi-ministerial approval.