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Emirates gives pharma a healthy boost

[ June 6, 2019   //   Chris ]

Emirates SkyCargo has boosted its worldwide pharma handling capabilities and infrastructure with a new purpose-built facility in Chicago. The 1,000sq m dedicated site provides comprehensive protection for pharma cargo through temperature controlled zones for acceptance and delivery, cargo build up and break down, storage and direct ramp access. Developed in partnership with ground handling company Maestro, the facility has a capacity of 15,000 tonnes a year, and is capable of expansion.

Divisional senior vice president for Emirates SkyCargo, Nabil Sultan, said the airline worked closely with the ground handler who was involved in the planning for the facility from the very beginning. The facility offers temperature controlled zones (2-8 degree Celsius and 15-25 degree Celsius) for acceptance and delivery, pharma cargo build up, breakdown and storage. Nearness to the ramp means that cargo has to spend less time moving between the terminal to the aircraft.

The Chicago facility is part of Emirates SkyCargo’s broader strategy to enhance protection for temperature sensitive pharma shipments not just at its hub in Dubai but from origin to destination.

Following up on the success of the pharma corridors initiative which was announced in 2018, it has expanded its initial network of 12 pharma stations to 20.

The carrier works with ground handling partners and other local stakeholders at important origin or destination stations for pharma, in order to ensure a high standard of handling operations for pharmaceuticals in line with Emirates SkyCargo’s stringent norms.

Emirates senior vice president, cargo operations worldwide, Henrik Ambak, said: “We have been successfully working with our ground handling partners at our major pharma points and the model has met with quite a lot of success and positive feedback from our customers. This has motivated us to replicate the model at more pharma stations thus growing our pharma corridors network to more than 20 stations. We’ll continue to look at how pharma flows through our network and add more stations in the future.”

Emirates SkyCargo’s pharma operations in Dubai including trucking operations between its terminals at Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central were certified as compliant to EU GDP (Good Distribution Practices) guidelines this year.

Tags: Emirates