China does not allow our military transport planes to evacuate Malaysians, must use commercial flights

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 31): Beijing has not given the greenlight for Malaysia to use military transport planes to evacuate our citizens stuck in Hubei province and Wuhan as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (pictured) said, reported Malaysiakini.

Commercial planes, however, are allowed to carry out the evacuation.

"In fact, the Defence Ministry and Malaysian Armed Forces had offered to use their aircraft earlier but China only allows the use of commercial flights," Saifuddin told the media in Kuantan after a Chinese New Year event.

Saifuddin said the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) will, therefore, use commercial flights to bring the trapped 80 Malaysians home “as soon as possible”.

“The aircraft will also carry medical personnel. Malaysians who will be brought back will undergo health screening [in China], and they will be examined again once they arrive in Malaysia.

"They may be quarantined for a while before they are free to leave,” he explained.

If Putrajaya were to use its military aircraft to evacuate Malaysians in China, the two aircraft type in the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) capable for the job would have been either the C-130H Hercules or Airbus A400M Atlas.

The C-130H Hercules has a range of 3,800 km and is able carry 92 passengers or 74 litter patients with 5 medical crew.

The Airbus A400M Atlas is even more capable, with a range of 6,400 km and able to carry 116 fully equipped troops / paratroopers or up to 66 stretchers accompanied by 25 medical personnel.

As of midnight yesterday, the Chinese government’s National Health and Health Commission has received 9,692 cases coronavirus infection, of which – 1,527 are severe cases, 213 deaths, and 171 people who have been discharged from medical facilities upon recovery.