Cathay Pacific announced it has flown the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to Hong Kong on February 19 from Beijing.

In a statement, the Hong Kong flag carrier said it flew one million doses of Sinovac's vaccine to support the government's vaccination efforts.

“This is an important milestone in Hong Kong’s fight against COVID-19 and we are immensely proud to be doing our part in this fight. It is a successful effort, which involves close collaboration with the Airport Authority of Hong Kong, and many of our industry partners and business associates,” said Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang.

“We stand ready to undertake future shipments using our vaccine solution product and support the Government in its community-wide roll out the programme.”

The doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines were loaded inside six temperature-controlled Envirotainer e2 RAP containers to maintain the vaccine temperature range of 2-8゜C.

The shipments were loaded closest to the aircraft doors to allow for priority unloading and upon arrival, the aircraft was parked at the South Apron closest to the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal at Hong Kong International Airport to reduce the towing time between the parking bay and the cargo terminal.

“Meticulous planning both within Cathay Pacific and with the shipper and forwarder in Beijing, as well as the consignee in Hong Kong, was critical to ensuring the utmost precision throughout the shipping process,” the carrier said.

As part of airport-wide recertification of IATA’s CEIV Pharma accreditation (the internationally recognised quality-assurance scheme for pharmaceutical shipments) at Hong Kong International Airport, Cathay Pacific Cargo, Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal and ground-handling subsidiary Hong Kong Airport Services (HAS) have all been re-certified.

This offers a complete level of quality assurance at every stage of the import and transhipment journey, Cathay Pacific said.