Qatar Airways Cargo has added Colombo and Dublin to its pharma network.

According to the carrier, Colombo was added on May 15, while pharma operations at Dublin will begin when the airline launches a passenger flight to the city with a Boeing 787-8 on June 12, 2017.

“We are experiencing consistent growth each year in the air freight of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products globally,” said Ulrich Ogiermann, chief officer of cargo at Qatar Airways. “The expansion of our pharma network to these destinations gives us the opportunity to support expanding pharma businesses in Sri Lanka, the Republic of Ireland and globally. Customers stand to benefit from a seamless cool chain as well as uncompromised service standards. Qatar Airways Cargo customers in the Republic of Ireland will also greatly benefit in terms of time and cost savings, as they will no longer have to truck their freight from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom.”

Qatar Airways Cargo’s QR Pharma product offers both active and passive solutions to maintain different temperature ranges, including quick ramp transfers with reefer trucks at the Doha hub. The pharma network now covers 73 destinations around the world.

Sri Lanka expects future earnings from pharmaceutical exports to surpass tea export revenue following the launch of a pharmaceutical manufacturing project at the country’s Export Processing Zone in 2016, while nine of the biggest pharmaceutical companies have operations in the Republic of Ireland, according to Qatar Airways.