PPE delivery from Cambodia arrives at Cardiff Airport

An aircraft carrying more than 200,000 items of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has arrived in Wales.

The plane came from Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital city, and landed at Cardiff Airport on Tuesday afternoon.

The delivery contains fluid-resistant gowns which will go to frontline health and social care workers in Wales.

Welsh Government say that around 40-50,000 gowns are used in Wales each week so this delivery should last about four weeks.

Another PPE delivery containing 460,000 gowns is expected later in the week.

Once the Cambodian shipment had landed, supplies were unloaded and transported to NHS Wales with the support of South Wales Police and the Ministry of Defence.

South Wales Police and the Ministry of Defence helped unload the equipment and transport it onwards. Credit: Cardiff Airport

Read More:

The special charter flight, operated by Nordwind, took off from Cambodia and landed at Cardiff Airport at around 3:30pm. On board was 11 tonnes of freight, mostly made up of fluid-resistant gowns.

First Minister, Mark Drakeford thanked Cardiff Airport for their support.

Deb Bowen Rees, CEO at the airport said, “We are extremely proud to be supporting the national effort during these extraordinary times.

“Being open and able to accept direct, long haul flights means critical supplies are able to be flown into Wales and then shipped directly to front line teams as quickly as possible."

Another PPE delivery, this time from China, is expected later in the week. Credit: Cardiff Airport

There has been concern over shortages of PPE with unions reporting that they have been contacted by hundreds of frontline workers about inadequate levels of PPE.

The Royal College of Nursing have also said nursing staff in Wales are "dealing with horrifying shortages of equipment."

Health Minister, Vaughan Gething confirmed on Tuesday that another delivery of PPE, this time from China, was expected later in the week.