William remembers the surreal experience of delivering one of the first batches of the Pfizer vaccine from Frankfurt to Hong Kong in January 2021, when Europe was in a full lockdown.

“It was a very strange experience because there was no-one flying, the airspaces were completely empty - same as the airports. Frankfurt is usually one of the most active airports in Europe but we were getting cleared from 200 kilometres out because there was no one around.”

“We didn’t know as much about the virus back then - how it developed, how it behaved – and it felt like we were on a mission, kind of on the front line facing the virus. That felt very rewarding, because we knew we were helping people and that it was important for society back in Hong Kong.”

Fast forward a year, and the extended uncertainty had been difficult for everyone.

“No one knew what was going to happen, or how many months we could keep going like this. When the Closed Loop cycles were introduced in February 2021, they were supposed to be in place for one or two cycles. Even a year later, they were re-introduced to the freighters.”

“But one thing I want to highlight was the professionalism of the crew. We’ve had to deal with a lot of changes and uncertainty. I personally spent around 100 days in quarantine in 2021, and I don’t even know how many tests I’ve done - maybe 300? Other people had it even worse - some people didn’t see their family for two years.”

“Yet the way everyone responded was quite amazing. From day one, everyone remained incredibly professional, conducting everything in a safe, methodical manner, and showing outstanding mental health resilience in coping with the challenges.”

But William was still keen to take some positivity from a difficult situation.

“The pandemic has forced me to face a new ‘me’,” he said. “I’m proud of the fact that I’m still here with the energy to keep serving the community. The support my wife gave me every day was essential, but aside from that what kept me going was the knowledge that we’re doing something important for society and the hope of returning to normal life.”