Bangkok Flight Services (BFS), the joint venture between Bangkok Airways and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), has achieved Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certification for its dedicated pharma handling facility at the city's Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

This award takes the number of GDP or IATA CEIV Pharma-certified facilities available to WFS customers globally to 27, with two further locations in North America aiming for certification in Q2 and Q3 2024.

In addition to Bangkok, WFS, and other subsidiaries of the SATS Group, now operate certified pharma handling facilities in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bangalore, Beijing PEK & PKX, Brussels, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dallas Fort Worth, Dammam, Dublin, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, London LHR & LGW, Madrid, Miami, Mumbai, Muscat, New York JFK, Paris CDG, Philadelphia.  

More certified facilities in 2024

"BFS, WFS and SATS have a shared commitment to ensuring the safe and secure handling of temperature-controlled, life-enhancing pharma cargoes," said Stewart Sinclair, managing director of BFS.

"This is evident by our investments in best-in-class pharma centres in Europe, Scandinavia, North America, the Middle East, India and Asia, and more certified facilities will join this network in 2024," he added, noting that these operations are vital to maintaining the integrity and compliance of pharma shipments as well as to supporting premium and special cargo products offered by our customers.

BFS received its GDP certification from independent audit body Escem/TüV Rheinland following a stringent two-day assessment of the pharma facility by Global Pharma Solutions LLC.

WFS noted that this confirms the operation's compliance with EC Guidelines on Good Distribution Practice of medicinal products for human use and the World Health Organization's WHO TRS 1025 - Annex 7 for Good Storage & Distribution Practices for medical products.

The pharma facility — located inside the main BFS cargo terminal — consists of 3 zones offering some 120m² of capacity.

This includes over 215 storage positions within controlled temperature ranges of 15-25°C and 2-8°C.

The facility also incorporates charging stations for 'active' cargo containers used for the transportation of temperature-controlled pharma products. The facility is operated by a specially trained team and protected by comprehensive security measures.

"In 2024, BFS is investing to increase the capacity of its pharma storage to support growing customer volumes," the announcement said.

It added that over 20 of the 80 airlines handled by BFS in Bangkok now regularly ship pharma cargoes.