Emirates SkyCargo said it moved over 400 million kilos of pharma cargo as the carrier recently marked five years of transporting pharmaceuticals.

In a statement, the carrier said in September 2016, it launched its dedicated GDP certified pharma handling facility at Dubai International Airport and at the same time unveiling its three-tiered specialised product - Emirates Pharma.

"At Emirates SkyCargo, we recognised very early on that our customers were looking for increasingly specialised solutions for their cargo and this was true especially for valuable and life-saving medicines that have to be transported under very strict conditions," said Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice president, Cargo.

After planning and significant investment to infrastructure, he noted that Emirates SkyCargo introduced a transportation solution targeted at this segment backed by its GDP certified Dubai handling facility for pharma.

"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," Nabil added.

He noted that Emirates SkyCargo's pharma volumes have continued to grow over the years and to date, the cargo arm of Emirates have transported more than 400 million kilos (400, 000 tonnes) of pharma cargo under our Emirates Pharma umbrella.

Dubai pharma cargo hub

Among others, Emirates SkyCargo said it 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.

The carrier also has one of the world’s largest fleet of Cool Dollys which help maintain cargo at a stable temperature between aircraft and terminal. It said close to 50 of these Cool Dollys are dedicated for pharmaceutical cargo.

"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," Emirates SkyCargo said.

During the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, Emirates said it commenced preparations to make its hub fit for purpose for the transportation of vaccines since August 2020 and more recently, the carrier expanded its cool room infrastructure with 94 airline pallet positions at its EU GDP certified dedicated pharma facility at Dubai International Airport.

It said 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.