An aircraft carrying supplies for victims of the earthquake in Syria left Malta on Thursday. 

The Universal Air flight is carrying 101 boxes of clothes and other items to Cyprus, from where they will then be transferred to a Cyprus Air flight due to leave for Beirut.

Once the boxes arrive in Beirut, they will be taken to Syria by a church group forming part of the Patriarch of Antioch. 

Supplies for Syria being loaded on an aircraft bound for Cyprus. Photo: Universal Air

“The world is in need at the moment. We were really pleased to see the efforts people made over the weekend,”  said Ruth Sawers, speaking for Women in Aviation Malta (WIAM), whose initiative the donation is. 

She said that most donations to the WIAM had come from the Maltese community, especially residents of Marsascala: "everyone was very generous with their donations".

The items were deposited over the weekend at SR Technic's facility near the Airport. They included coats, gloves, hats, scarves, blankets, shoes and other clothing. Toiletries, sanitary products and baby formula were also contributed.

“A lot of the items were new and never worn... people donated good quality stuff,” said Sawers, adding that many people had commented they were enjoying “doing something in person” rather than simply donating money. 

“Some people wrote notes on socks for children, which was heart-breaking" she added.  

Notes attached to donations of socks heading to Syria.

Last Thursday, the EU announced it was temporarily easing sanctions on Syria to speed up aid deliveries to the country two weeks after a massive 7.8-magnitude quake struck war-torn Syria and neighbouring Turkey, killing over 45,000.  

The quake compounded an already fraught humanitarian situation in the country caused by over a decade of brutal civil war following President Bashar al-Assad's violent crackdown on peaceful protests in 2011. 

As a result of the EU announcement, aid organisations will no longer need to seek permission from EU member state governments before sending supplies and services to sanctioned entities in Syria. 

The WIAM is a networking group which works to support women across Malta’s aviation sector. The recent initiative is the group’s first charity event, Sawers says.

Sawers thanked Universal Air and Cyprus Air, Enmed for a donation of fuel, AviaServe (ground handling operations), XPH (freight forwarding), EuroBridge (donations trailer) and SR Technics.

This week also saw a call for donations by the Syrian Solidarity in Malta NGO, which will be sending items to Syria and Turkey in response to the humanitarian crises created by February's earthquake in the region.