Joint venture partners Delta Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Cargo have launched their Pharma Zone at their joint Cargo Point facility at London Heathrow.

According to the two carriers, the new Pharma Zone will support the growing volumes of temperature-controlled healthcare and life science products being carried and enhances their ability to meet the strict quality and service requirements of pharmaceutical companies and their freight forwarding partners.

“The opening of the Pharma Zone is the latest enhancement to the pharma products of both airlines,” said Darren Sherlock, manager of products and partnerships at Virgin Atlantic Cargo. “This has also recently seen Delta Cargo become the first US global passenger carrier to gain IATA’s CEIV Pharma Logistics certification corporately and at its Atlanta operational hub, while Virgin Atlantic Cargo is on track to achieve Wholesale Distribution Authorisation (WDA) certification in the UK by the end of the year to confirm our GDP compliance. This reflects our joint commitment to delivering the correct level of service required for temperature-controlled pharma products at both origin and destination points across our networks.”

The new Pharma Zone is a fully segregated area dedicated to handling and storing pharmaceutical shipments. It features two walk-in pods capable of maintaining temperature ranges of 2-8°C and 15-25°C for loose pharma shipments. Above the floor of the Pharma Zone is a temperature-controlled storage system for 24 pallets, split into 6 separate chambers, each of which can be safely maintained within either 2-8°C or 15-25°C. Other features include a cargo door dedicated to pharma shipments to speed their flow through the warehouse and reduce the time products spend outside of a temperature controlled environment, and 10 charging points for active cargo containers. The specialists working in the Pharma Zone have all been GDP trained.

“This dedicated Pharma facility at London Heathrow is an important addition to our global pharma network and, most importantly, provides our customers and pharmaceutical manufacturers access to another major international gateway,” said Shawn Cole, vice president of Delta Cargo. “Delta Cargo has successfully achieved CEIV certification in Atlanta and for Delta’s headquarters. Over the next year we aim to add our other key hubs to the network, starting with New York-JFK and Los Angeles. This network, combined with the promise of speed, consistency and efficiency in delivering high-value, time-sensitive, temperature-controlled products right across the network really is a first for the Delta Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Cargo joint venture.”

Delta Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Cargo now offer approximately 24% of the total cargo capacity between the UK and the US, the world’s biggest trade lane for pharmaceutical products.

“Our pharma tonnage grew by 20% in the first half of 2017 and we expect this to increase as we continue to invest in, and develop, facilities like our new Pharma Zone as well as GDP processes and training across our network,” said Dominic Kennedy, managing director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo. “In terms of our pharma and life sciences offering, we believe our size, alongside direct Virgin oversight at every single station, gives us a real advantage in terms of the agility and flexibility we can offer and our growing volumes indicate our customers share this view. I also wish to acknowledge the strong commitment of dnata, our handling partner at Heathrow, for enabling us to deliver yet another significant benefit for our customers, who remain at the heart of everything we do.”