Qatar Airways Cargo will be adding two new Pharma Express routes to its Doha hub, one from Mumbai via Ahmedabad and another from Hyderabad.
The Mumbai service begins on November 10 and will operate every Tuesday and Friday. The Hyderabad flight will start on November 11 and operate every Wednesday and Saturday.
Ulrich Ogiermann, chief cargo officer of Qatar Airways, said that the airline was currently the only one offering a service dedicated to the pharmaceutical industry, and that the new pharma flights from India will cater to the growing pharmaceutical industry in the region.
“Air cargo standards for handling time- and temperature-sensitive commodities such as pharmaceuticals are becoming more stringent, with stricter guidelines on temperature control,” said Ogiermann. “Our thorough understanding of the intricacies involved in safeguarding the integrity of these commodities ensures that Qatar Airways Cargo continues to provide the meticulous and uncompromised service standards in line with Good Distribution Practice requirements.”
Citing a report by Equitymaster, the carrier said that India is the world’s third-largest pharmaceuticals market in terms of volume and ranks 13th in terms of value.
In Doha, shipments will be offloaded from and delivered to aircraft using specialized reefer trucks.
These two services will add to Qatar Airways Cargo’s existing Pharma Express flight from Brussels via Basel, which was launched in January 2015.