Emirates SkyCargo has hit a billion milestone for Covid-19 vaccine delivery across the world within 18 months since the first shipment in October 2020.

The cargo carrier said this amounts to 4,200 tonnes of vaccines for Covid-19 that it has flown on its aircraft to over 80 destinations and on over 2,000 Emirates flights in a bid to help worldwide efforts to end the pandemic.

It said close to two-thirds of the 1 billion doses were transported to developing countries.

"From the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo has been focused on supporting global communities in their recovery from the devastating effects of the virus and we have prioritised assistance to developing countries," said Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice president, Cargo.

"The strategic location of our Dubai hub combined with the strengths of our modern fleet of widebody aircraft, our purpose-built facilities, and capabilities in moving temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals allowed us to transport COVID-19 vaccines securely, reliably, and rapidly from one corner of the globe to another," Sultan added.

As early as August 2020, Emirates SkyCargo was one of the first global air cargo carriers to begin mapping out the global logistics for the movement of potential vaccines for Covid-19 transport.

In October 2020, Emirates announced that it would be setting aside a dedicated GDP-certified airside hub for the transport of the said vaccines.

During the same month, working with its logistics partners, the cargo division of Emirates transported trial shipments of Covid-19 vaccines through Dubai.

In January 2021, Emirates SkyCargo teamed up with leading Dubai-based companies to form the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance to speed up the distribution of vaccines through Dubai to developing countries.

Emirates noted that in February 2021, the carrier also signed an MoU with UNICEF to prioritise transport and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines in support of the COVAX initiative and by early April 2021, Emirates SkyCargo had already transported more than 50 million doses of vaccines.

Expanded pharma cool chain

Emirates SkyCargo added that in June 2021, it expanded its pharma cool chain infrastructure at Dubai International Airport, allowing it to store an additional estimated 60-90 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines at any one point in time.

The freight carrier reached 250 million doses by September 2021 and 600 million doses by December 2021. 

Emirates SkyCargo said that aside from the Covid-19 vaccines, it has transported other critical life-saving medicines and treatments on its flights to more than 140 destinations across six continents.

An estimated 200 tonnes of pharmaceutical cargo are flown every day on Emirates aircraft.