In airports, on motorways and along railway lines: all around the world, VINCI Concessions teams have joined in the collective effort to combat the pandemic. As well as ensuring continuity of our public service mission across the network, our positive mobility makers have been hard at work to ensure the transport of people and essential goods and equipment as well as taking part in countless local acts of solidarity and generosity to help health workers and the people most impacted by the crisis.

Here’s a round-up of standout initiatives from around the world, in pictures.

AIRPORTS UNITED IN SUPPORT OF FRONTLINE WORKERS 

Our airports put their resources and energies to work to support frontline workers, particularly health workers.

Faced with the risk of a shortage of medical equipment for combatting Covid-19, a colleague from the Maintenance and Innovation team at Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport came up with the idea of manufacturing badge-holders and face shields for medical staff at Lyon Sud University Hospital. Thanks to his inventiveness and the airport’s 3D printer, an order for 130 badge-holders and face shields was delivered to emergency department teams. Toulon Hyères airport stayed open despite the crisis, which meant that two nursing assistants from Toulon were able to fly to Mulhouse to help their colleagues at the Émile Muller public hospital.

Chambéry airport donated 3,000 pairs of overshoes to staff at the city’s hospital, and Grenoble Alpes Isère airport handed its business terminal to Oyonnair, the airline responsible for carrying Covid-19 patients.

And at Nantes Atlantique airport, a major logistics hub that saw the landing of an Antonov carrying 11 million masks, staff were given extra backing by the Vinci Foundation for their work supporting two local non-profits: Secours et Assistance Médicale (opening a decontamination unit for medical staff) and Toit à Moi (outreach to people living on society’s margins).

HELPING REPATRIATION AND MEDICAL EVACUATION FLIGHTS

Grenoble and Chambéry both welcomed inbound flights carrying tourists stranded by lockdowns, as well as with medical evacuation flights that operated between hospitals in the region.

In mid-March, following the sudden announcement that Alpine ski resorts would close, teams from VINCI Airports reacted quickly, working closely with partner airlines and tour operators to get thousands of tourists home. From 14 to 16 March, Grenoble Alpes Isère airport handled 72 flights, including seven repatriation charters, for a total of 2,000 passengers. Since 16th May, over 3,500 British tourists have been able to get home on flights from Chambéry, via Grenoble or Lyon, or by coach.

SUPPORTING MEDICALLY EQUIPPED TGV TRAINS

Our teams on the Sud Europe Atlantique railways worked hand in hand with SNCF Réseau to smooth the passage of medically equipped TGV trains carrying patients, medical staff and equipment.

On 29th March, two medically equipped TGVs from Nancy and Mulhouse used the Sud Europe Atlantique line to transport 36 patients to hospitals in south-west France. About twenty staff from Mesea, the VINCI Concessions subsidiary in charge of operations and maintenance on the high-speed line, were involved to make sure that all aspects of this special operation ran smoothly.

TESTING AT GATWICK

London Gatwick airport handed over its long-term car park for use as a drive-in test centre for frontline health workers.

Initially for use by staff from the National Health Service (NHS) and other specific groups of workers, the vast car park opened for this large-scale operation on Wednesday 8th April. The service helped to provide reassurance to NHS and social services staff anxious whether or not they had to stay in lockdown. The airport has remained open, handling a range of flights including tourist repatriations.

SOLIDARITY IN BELFAST

In Northern Ireland, teams at Belfast International Airport came up with the idea of loaning dozens of retractable crowd barriers, temporarily surplus to requirements, to a nearby hospital to help it with its social distancing measures.

In a show of solidarity, the freight and operations teams arranged a donation of Easter eggs to hospital staff and filmed a Clap for Carers video posted on social media to show their support and celebrate the efforts of health workers.

PROTECTIVE HEALTH MEASURES HANDBOOK

Lima Expresa, the concession expressway operator in the Peruvian capital, has designed and published a Vital Education Handbook, aimed at spreading and improving mobility-related good practices, particularly in the face of the pandemic.

The document is designed to be shared and distributed via social media and among families, friends and colleagues. Accessible to all, it uses road signs to explain to people how to travel on the roads and explains the most responsible ways to use the internet, social distancing, and how to follow hygiene measures when not at home. This initiative is a first in Peru. It is part of VINCI Highways’ CSR policy to promote positive and considerate mobility in the country.

PROTECTIVE MEASURES IN ACTION

Starting in early April, in line with WHO recommendations and like many other initiatives rolled out across the VINCI Airports network, Santiago airport in Chile ramped up its signing to help passengers stay at least a metre from each other.

Markings appeared on the floor at check-in zones, airline sales desks and the information office. And as part of efforts to combat propagation of the virus and reduce the risk of infection, airport buses are now disinfected each time passengers are transported to or from an aircraft or terminal. In addition, the airport’s customer service team strictly follows health guidelines while continuing to offer passengers the latest flight information and details about measures in place to fight Covid-19.

FOOD AID FOR VULNERABLE FAMILIES

Via 40 Express, the concession company that operates the Bogota-Girardot highway, donated food hampers to over 450 vulnerable families.

An in-house donation campaign among Via 40 Express staff was used to fill baskets of basic foodstuffs and cleaning products that were given to struggling families in Soacha, Fusagasugá, Melgar and Girardot, municipalities in territories where VINCI Highways operates and where a large number of sustainable social initiatives reaching out to local people are regularly run.

HELPING CARERS ON THE ROAD 

To help workers in the field, especially healthcare workers, against a background of the Covid-19 health crisis, VINCI Highways teams have rolled out a range of measures to make their travel easier, provide them with equipment and ensure that health measures are followed.

In Greece, staff from the three hospitals in Patras, leading centres for coronavirus care, have been given transponders with one free return trip per day to use when crossing the Rion-Antirion Bridge.

In Lima (Peru) and on the Isle of Wight (United Kingdom), staff cars and ambulances belonging to the concession companies have been provided to transport health workers or deliver meals and shopping to isolated people.

In London (Hounslow road network) and Marseille (Prado tunnels), the concession companies have donated masks, gloves and hand sanitizer to local medical services. In Slovakia, where VINCI Highways operates the R1 expressway, the concession company helped with the purchase of medical equipment for three hospitals along the motorway route, enabling doctors to work in the best possible conditions.

And in Moscow, a donations campaign resulted in prepaid transponders being given to medical staff from two hospitals located close to the M11 motorway.