Emirates SkyCargo, a subsidiary of Emirates group, says it has invested $200m on equipment and faculties to ensure pharmaceutical cargo gets premium priority and also gets to their destinations as made without any form of interruption or damage.
This was made known by the Divisional Vice President of Emirates Skycargo, Badr Abbas, on the second day of the Air Cargo and Transport Logistics Africa conference where over 4,000 aviation stakeholders from 150 countries converged to discuss cargo in the aviation industry.
Speaking at the event in Nairobi, Kenya’s Capital, Abbas stated that considering the importance of pharmaceutical cargo because it deals with human health, the airline always places top priorities on cargo of such nature and always ensures it is delivered as received.
To prove the airlines’ seriousness on health-related cargo, the airline boss said Emirates had invested in 15,000 square meters of GDP-certified facilities in Dubai, a facility he adjudged as the largest and most advanced globally.
He added that owing to its market leadership and investment in pharmaceutical cargoes, he noted that Emirates transports two million kilograms of pharmaceutical cargo weekly.
He stressed, “Pharmaceuticals are shipments and lifesaving. And we have invested around $200m to ensure they are handled with utmost care.
Our state-of-the-art 15,000 square meters of GDP-certified facilities in Dubai are the largest and the most advanced globally, equipped with temperature-controlled storage, cool dollies, and some custom innovations like water-resistant covers.
“So, all that is within our facility. At Emirates SkyCargo, we are a proud market leader, transporting over 2 million kilograms of pharmaceutical cargo every week.”
He said further, “So our network of 44 Pharma corridors connects the world with consistently high cold chain standards, ensuring that lifesaving treatments reach those in need reliably and efficiently. And also from these 44 Pharma corridors, four corridors are in Africa, and one of them is in Kenya.”
Also corroborating Abbas, the officer in charge of the airlines’ pharmaceuticals cargo globally, Julian Sutch, recalled the Covid-19 pandemic era, stating that the airline was the biggest transporter of vaccines across the world with particular attention in African nations.
He said as part of the preparations mantra of the airline, it had prepared a huge facility and equipment that facilitated adequate movement and preservation of pharmaceutical cargo ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, unknowingly that the pandemic would break out.
Additionally, like COVID-19 vaccines, like other drugs, especially preventative drugs, He reiterated that the airlines placed the highest priority on such cargo especially as they concerned immediate airlifting.
