Salewa-Oberalp Group helps in the crisis Covid-19

“We are used to assuming our responsibilities, not only for our employees and consumers, but also for the society in which we live and work,” explains Heiner Oberrauch, Chairman of the Salewa-Oberalp Group. “Throughout Italy, as in the territory of our headquarters in Bolzano, there is an emergency in the emergency, represented by a severe shortage of medical protective equipment for staff who treat patients suffering from Covid-19. In order to respond very quickly to the need of the South Tyrolean Health Service, we have started sewing water-repellent protective masks and gowns at our branch in Montebelluna, reusing waste materials from our production”.

The weekly production of 50,000 cotton-polyester blend masks and 800 protective gowns in Gore-Tex and PowerTex, technical fabrics normally used for mountaineering jackets, has enabled the medical facilities in South Tyrol to deal with the most immediate emergency of lack of material. At the same time, through its licensee partner Salewa in the Chinese city of Xiamen (China), the Salewa-Oberalp Group was able to order a total of 16.5 million surgical and KN95 protective gowns and 600,000 protective gowns, of which 1.5 million gowns were ordered by the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano, while a further 15 million gowns were ordered by the State Civil Defence. In close cooperation with the health authorities and the Civil Protection, several air transport routes were opened up for the delivery of the gigantic volume of objects. The material was transported from China to Vienna thanks to a unique cooperation with Austrian Airlines and the Austrian government.

In an extraordinary action, two Boeing 777s for commercial use were used to transport the first shipment, and all passenger cabin seats were filled with cardboard boxes. In this way, the Autonomous Province of Bozen/Bolzano and the State Civil Defence will receive this urgently needed medical equipment which will help to save lives, the fastest way they could find.

The commitment of the Salewa-Oberalp Group will continue in the coming days and weeks. The aircraft provided by Austrian Airlines have been pragmatically converted into cargo aircraft to make it possible to transport this valuable medical equipment for as long as necessary. This will make it possible to send the necessary protective equipment to public and health institutions.