Air NZ flight carrying thousands of masks lands in Auckland

An Air New Zealand flight carrying thousands of masks landed in Auckland this morning direct from Shanghai.

Flight NZ288, organised by Kiwi business owners, carried 150,000 China-sourced N95 masks and 2.5 million disposable masks, Newshub reported.

The Mowbray family, who run the Zuru toy company out of China, paid for the flight and will sell the product to the Government at cost.

Anna Mowbray told Newshub it was the first of six cargo flights to land in the upcoming days.

Aboard each plane will be 50,000 sterilised gowns, 100,000 litres of hand sanitiser, 140,000 alcohol wipes, 30,000 face shields, gowns and masks.

The flight followed a meeting between Government officials and some of the largest players in New Zealand business, including Nick Mowbray, Rob Fyfe, Graeme Hart, Craig Heatley, Stephen Tindall and Sam Morgan.

Mowbray told Newshub she plans to open a supply line to bring product directly into New Zealand from China.

"Being a Kiwi, I want to make sure that New Zealanders are protected - and are safe."

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the product and said it would supplement the more than 400,000 N95s produced locally each week at a factory in Whanganui.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

"We've been actively working with the private sector alongside our regular suppliers to increase our PPE [personal protection equipment] stocks and top up MoH and DHB stockpiles," she told Newshub.

"There is a lot of PPE arriving in the country in the coming weeks."