IAG Cargo has opened a new Constant Climate centre in Madrid dedicated to transporting time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products.

According to IAG, the facility features two dedicated temperature-controlled chambers with an area of over 900 square metres. It is operated by an expert team, with shipments loaded onto dedicated airside docks and served by a specialist fleet of refrigerated trucks in order to protect the pharmaceuticals from the cargo terminal to loading onto aircraft.

The facility is compliant with the European Union’s Good Distribution Practice and will allow IAG Cargo to increase the volumes of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments passing through the Madrid hub, which primarily serves the growing Latin American pharmaceuticals market, projected to increase by 9% per year until 2028.

“The opening of this new Constant Climate centre reflects our continued investment in our infrastructure and operations,” said Camilo Garcia, director of sales, marketing and products at IAG Cargo. “Constant Climate was the first pharma-only product to the market and last year we shipped over 25,000 tonnes of life-saving medicines and vaccines. Good Distribution Practice is a critical focus for our Constant Climate product as it ensures delivery of medicine to the end-patient in a pure, potent and stable condition. All of our staff involved in the handling of Constant Climate shipments are GDP-trained and the certification of the Madrid facility means that all three of our Constant Climate hubs – London, Dublin and Madrid – are GDP-certified, driving quality across our network.”

Work on the new facility began in June 2018.

IAG Cargo’s Constant Climate cold chain product is specially designed for precision management of time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products. The service is managed by a dedicated team which handles bookings, advises on packaging solutions and ensures shipments meet regulatory standards.

IAG Cargo’s Madrid hub handles over 250,000 tonnes of cargo per year.