Cargolux Airlines has passed its GDP Surveillance Audit, validating its GDP certification for another year.

According to Cargolux, the certification attests that the company’s management system fulfils the requirements of the Guidelines on Good Distribution Practice of Medicinal Products for Human Use EU directive as well as those of the World Health Organization’s guidelines.

“The demand for specialized transportation of pharmaceuticals has risen considerably over the past few years and Cargolux’s dedicated product CV Pharma is in increasing demand,” said Stavros Evangelakakis, global product manager of CV Pharma at Cargolux. “There is growing market interest for these products in South America and Africa although the majority of the supply is still flown from Europe to North America, North East Asia and the Gulf region.”

Cargolux’s hub at Luxembourg Airport  along with 12 other stations across the network also have the GDP certification and/or the International Air Transport Association’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics certification through subcontracted ground-handling partners.

The GDP certification programme assesses a company for its use of specialized equipment, pharmaceutical working procedures and continuous improvement of pharmaceutical handling expertise.

“GDP certification ensures best practice policies are upheld in the handling and transportation of this sensitive cargo.” said Franco Nanna, director of global logistics services at Cargolux and chairman of IATA’s Time and Temperature Working Group at. “Along with the temperature-controlled zones onboard the aircraft, this certification represents additional peace of mind for our customers whose satisfaction is our key priority.”

Cargolux became the world’s first GDP-certified airline in January 2014.