AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), one of the leaders in transportation of temperature-sensitive shipments, has organized dedicated pharma charter flight from Leipzig (Germany) to Guangzhou (China) through Novosibirsk (Russia).

ABC’s long-standing partner, Kuehne+Nagel, safely delivered 19 ULDs from Vienna (Austria) to the airport of departure with over 500,000 vials of human albumin packaged in Tyvek thermo covers to guarantee supply chain integrity. After completion of the smooth and seamless loading, Boeing 747-8F took off with over 105 tons of sensitive products onboard adjusting temperature regime within the range of +2C till +25C.  

‘With most of the anti-COVID-19 shipments switching to slow logistics, we could use this period to test our capabilities for vaccine transportation. Although we have not used special containers for this particular charter flight, it is still essential to guarantee that all the stakeholders are ready for a considerable batch of pharma shipments. Furthermore, it is important to keep the regular flow of medicines, which were previously rescheduled or postponed with priorities given to COVID-19 cargo’, - highlights Nikolay Glushnev, General Director, AirBridgeCargo Airlines.

Jon Chapman, Vice President Pharma & Healthcare Services at Kuehne+Nagel, comments: "As the market leader in Pharma & Healthcare logistics, Kuehne+Nagel have assessed the impact of the upcoming Covid-19 vaccine demand and are ramping-up capabilities to address arising requirements of additional capacity, dedicated resources, quality & compliance, and infrastructure. Regular exchange on current and future capabilities, as well as the successful execution of temperature-sensitive shipments with AirBridgeCargo Airlines, confirms that jointly we will ensure fast, safe and secure transportation of vaccines and supporting materials (e.g. syringes) to the world.”

While some countries are going through the second or even third waves of lockdowns, it is of paramount importance to sustain the spread of the virus. AirBridgeCargo, together with other carriers within Volga-Dnepr Group, offers its ‘clean charter’ service, which includes not only disinfection of cargo and aircraft cabin compartments but, most importantly, special biosafety for crew personnel with PPE, regular COVID-19 testing and medical checks, special ‘clean corridors’ in the airports, and hotel accommodations to avoid interaction with other visitors.