Emirates SkyCargo moves 400 million pharma kilos in a global milestone

…45 million vaccine doses transported to Africa

Emirates SkyCargo, the global leader in the air transport of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals, has moved over  400 million kilos  of phamas, marking an important operational milestone.

Five years ago, Emirates SkyCargo raised the bar in the air cargo industry for the safe and efficient transport of pharmaceuticals by launching its dedicated GDP certified pharma handling facility at Dubai International Airport and at the same time unveiling its three-tiered specialized product - Emirates Pharma.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: "After extensive planning and significant investment to our infrastructure, processes and people, we introduced our 360 degree transportation solution backed by state of the art GDP certified Dubai handling facility for our pharma customers in September 2016. The response from the market was overwhelmingly positive and we managed to very quickly transform the perception that Dubai was a destination to be avoided for pharma cargo in the summer to that of Dubai being a reliable hub for pharma customers all year round."

Hub Dubai: Emirates SkyCargo has over 20,000 sq. metres of GDP compliant storage and handling space at its hub in Dubai processing close to 200,000 kilos (200 tonnes) of pharmaceuticals every single day comprising vaccines, biologics, medicines for illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and a range of other medical treatments.

The carrier has one of the world's largest fleet of Cool Dollys which help maintain cargo at a stable temperature between aircraft and terminal. Close to 50 of these Cool Dollys are dedicated for pharmaceutical cargo. Emirates SkyCargo also works with a number of specialized container providers in order to offer customers a better choice and fit for their shipping needs.

The establishment of a world class transportation hub for pharmaceuticals at Dubai by Emirates SkyCargo has facilitated the rapid and secure transport of pharmaceutical products from manufacturing locations to end destinations.

Over the years, the carrier has been able to connect increasing volumes of pharma cargo between markets spread across six continents including India, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, UK, Russia, United States, Brazil, Australia, Korea, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Nearly one third of the total pharma cargo exported on Emirates SkyCargo every year originates from India.

Emirates has also transported over 45 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to different countries in Africa.

Emirates SkyCargo has also worked with ground handlers across more than 35 leading pharma origin and destination airports to ensure high standards of pharma handling from origin to destination. In Chicago, one of the major pharma stations in the Emirates SkyCargo network, the carrier worked closely with the local ground handler for developing a GDP certified airside pharmaceutical handling facility spread over 1000sq. metres.

Between October 2020 and September 2021, Emirates SkyCargo has transported more than 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 75 destinations through its hub in Dubai. As part of the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance, Emirates SkyCargo joined hands with DP World, International Humanitarian City and Dubai Airports to combine expertise and strengths to expedite the movement of vaccines to developing nations through Dubai.

The carrier also entered into an MoU with UNICEF to facilitate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in support of the COVAX facility for equitable distribution of vaccines.