Cathay Pacific Cargo is using its Vaccine Solution pharma service to transport large numbers of Covid-19 vaccines, under varying required conditions, to destinations in its network.
Yesterday, the carrier carried 1m vaccine doses manufactured by Fosun Pharma/BioNTech from Frankfurt to Hong Kong. The batch was the first from Fosun Pharma/BioNTech to be delivered to Hong Kong, where Cathay is based.
The carrier has already also transported a Fosun Pharma/BioNTech shipment to Penang on one of its freighters. Cathay Pacific director of cargo Tom Owen commented: “Different vaccines have differing requirements. The Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccine must be transported in a deep frozen state, which requires more complex transportation and storage solutions.”
Cathay also recently transported 1m doses of the Sinovac to Hong Kong. The doses were loaded in six temperature-controlled Envirotainer RAP e2 containers to keep them at 2°C to 8°C, in the bellyhold of an Airbus A330 passenger aircraft.
The carrier also transported 200,000 of Sinovac doses to Mexico. They were stored in a single Envirotainer RAP e2 container and carried on a Boeing 747-8 freighter.
Additionally, Cathay has transported a CanSinoBIO vaccine shipment via Beijing and Hong Kong to Mexico.
Later this week, it will carry another 800,000 doses of the Sinovac to Mexico.
Cathay’s Vaccine Solution includes further training for its warehouse and ramp staff about the different requirements of each type of vaccine, so that they can be handled accordingly.
Owen said: “Our Vaccine Solution has proven itself to be ideally suited to the fast and effective distribution of this and other vaccines across the globe, using our freighter and passenger fleet, and our extensive global network.”
Cathay also said in a statement: “This level of dedication and expertise has been recognised not only by our customers, but also UNICEF, which named Cathay Pacific Cargo as one of the select airlines for its Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative to support Covax, the global effort aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.”
Cathay Pacific Cargo aslo said it is increasing capacity across its network by adding a two more weekly Boeing 777 cargo-only flights on is Pharma Corridor between Brussels and Hong Kong.
