AirBridgeCargo has been awarded the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics certification from the International Air Transport Association.

ABC becomes the seventh airline in the world and the first in Russia to achieve the certification.

“Good health is one of our core corporate values so we clearly understand the importance of this certification,” said Sergey Lazarev, general director of AirBridgeCargo Airlines [third from right in photo]. “IATA CEIV is a confirmation that our quality procedures for the transportation of pharma products, including temperature-sensitive goods, fully comply with IATA’s standards. Every player in the pharma supply chain must follow strict procedures to ensure products reach consumers in good time and in perfect condition. We are proud that AirBridgeCargo was able to complete its preparation for CEIV certification within just four months and successfully passed the IATA audit.”

According to Lazarev, the company has also delivered specialist pharma training to 200 employees.

“We are confident that this confirmation of our competency and expertise will allow us to increase our volumes of pharma products across our international route network, including imports and exports to/from Russia,” he said. “It will also help us to attract additional transit cargo via Sheremetyevo airport on the Europe-Asia trade lane. Through our team’s efforts aimed at the development and promotion of competitive and high-quality services, we also hope to attract new business from customers that currently choose to use ground transportation services.”

As part of ABC’s strategy to create a pharma hub at Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport, a new 47,000m² automated cargo terminal will be commissioned in 2017.

“The US$85 million terminal will initially be capable of handling up to 380,000 tonnes a year with a future potential to expand to 1 million tonnes a year,” said Mikhail Vasilenko, CEO of Sheremetyevo International Airport [left in photo]. “We are set on building the largest cargo hub in Europe to meet the growing market needs and create favourable conditions for long-term success of our partner airlines.”

Robert van de Weg, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Volga-Dnepr Group, said that the CEIV Pharma certification reflects the company’s commitment to being a high-quality service provider and its responsibility to help maintain the integrity of pharma customers’ cold chains.

“We have demonstrated that we have the required processes in place to meet this IATA global standard and to provide the level of quality and consistency that is so paramount to every customer shipping healthcare products,” he said. “Giving customers this level of confidence in our pharma service will ensure we continue to increase our share of this very important part of the air cargo market.”

The other airlines with the CEIV Pharma certification are Air France, CAL Cargo Airlines, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines.