DHL prepares Armenian airport for disasters through GARD training

GERMANY's Deutsche Post DHL has announced it is taking its Get Airports Ready for Disaster (GARD) training programme to Armenia's capital airport at Yerevan as well as to Gyumri regional airport in the north west.

DHL has previously conducted GARD training in Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Turkey, El Salvador, the Philippines and Panama.

The three-day programme prepares personnel and infrastructure for the logistical challenges that accompany natural disasters, demonstrating how logistics and local expertise can be used and bottlenecks avoided in handling inbound relief.

Armenia was hit by a devastating earthquake that left some 25,000 people dead 25 years ago. It is rated as one of the 60 most disaster-prone countries, facing heightened risk of earthquakes, drought and flooding.

"Again and again, we have experienced that natural disasters pose special challenges for logistics and require fast support," said DHL spokesman Christof Ehrhart.

"Our GARD initiative is designed to provide our logistics know-how to local experts in a timely fashion and thus make the work following a natural disaster easier," he said.