PRESS RELEASE: PHARMA.AERO PUBLISHES WHITE PAPER AIRPORT TO AIRPORT PHARMA CORRIDOR 1.0 PROJECT
Pharma.Aero published White Paper Airport to Airport Pharma Corridor 1.0 Project
Pharma.Aero’s objective is to achieve excellence in reliable end-to-end air transportation for pharma shippers, by fostering collaboration between CEIV certified airport communities dedicated in developing and pioneering when it comes to handling, storage and air transportation of pharmaceuticals.
In 2019, Brussels Airport Company and Hong Kong International Airport successfully pioneered the protocol of airport-to-airport corridor, by connecting a CEIV Pharma certified airline, Cathay Pacific, and respective cargo handling communities. Nathan De Valck, Head of Cargo Product and Network Development at Brussels Airport Company and Chairman at Pharma.Aero said, “The major goal of this project was to investigate and deliver unique assurance in handling quality to pharmaceutical shippers. This project did not only connect CEIV certified air cargo service providers at both ends, it was also the first of its kind to invite leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, MSD and Johnson & Johnson to participate”. There were two major goals identified within the project:
1. To establish a standard protocol for mapping the corridor.
2. To test the mapping protocol on pharmaceutical shipments over the identified corridor.
With shippers setting out stringent key performance indicators (“KPIs”) to evaluate operational parameters, 47 live shipments were monitored and analyzed in a dashboard. By achieving zero cases of temperature excursions and over 95% fulfilment for all KPIs, the trial successfully proved that BRU-HKG lane consistently adheres to high standards.
“The airport-to-airport Pharma Corridor protocol provided key information to ensure quality assurance is in place to protect product integrity and prevent pharma product loss. Connecting all the dots across a supply chain has never been easy. One of the major outcomes of the corridor was to provide an unprecedented level of transparency to the entire pharmaceutical supply chain. It conferred visibility and insight to industry stakeholders in identifying areas of improvement regarding process and performance,” added Alaina Shumname, General Manager, Aviation Logistics at Hong Kong International Airport.
The initiative will be propagated to other Pharma.Aero member airports to form a network of pharma corridors. Pharma shippers will then have a network to cover their trade lanes which meet their shipping needs.
About Pharma.Aero:
Pharma.Aero, a non-profit organization with its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, aims to achieve excellence in reliable end-to-end air transportation for Life Science and Medtech shippers, by fostering collaboration between CEIV certified airport communities dedicated in developing and pioneering when it comes to handling, storage and air transportation of pharmaceuticals.
Pharma.Aero brings added value for the shipper by placing them as strategic priorities of Pharma.Aero, providing insights into the capabilities of the air cargo industry, as well as facilitating direct collaboration with the different air cargo stakeholders in the supply chain. Together, the organisation focuses on collaborative and continuous improvement of the Life Science and Medtech air cargo supply chain.
Pharma.Aero is an organisation that is proud to walk the talk. Jointly with our members, we co-ideate and co-develop projects that focus on end-to-end supply chain visibility solutions and address air transportation issues and challenges faced by the Life Science and Medtech industry. Since its inception in 2016, Pharma.Aero initiated and completed 6 projects. Consequently, technical papers for our members and white papers for the entire industry were published.
For further contact
Frank Van Gelder
Secretary General
secgen@pharma.aero
Pharma.Aero VZW