Category Archives: Aviation

The logistics of COVID-19 vaccine has begun at the Mumbai airport, facilitating the delivery of about 2,72,400 doses of the Covishield vaccine to 22 domestic destinations with GoAir’s first flight to Goa. This came a day after a massive pan-India inoculation drive against COVID-19 was set in process with more than 56 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine leaving Pune for 13 cities across the country. As part of the mission, Mumbai Airport will facilitate the distribution of a total of 227 boxes containing about 2,72,400 doses of the vaccine. These shipments are being carried out by SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Vistara. These will be delivered to Goa, Bagdogra, Rajkot, Ranchi, Imphal, Agartala, Cochin, Bhopal, Kanpur, Jammu, Srinagar, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Raipur, Dehradun, Varanasi, Indore, Trivandrum and Jabalpur. The first vaccine shipment departed from the airport to Goa through GoAir carrying two boxes of the vaccine, followed by a flight to Rajkot at 6:00 am, which carried seven boxes of the vaccines and was operated by SpiceJet. The Mumbai airport has an exclusive station dealing with storage and maintenance of both e-type, and t-type active containers that help facilitate the seamless distribution of vaccines across India. The airport has placed a well-defined process for the faster turnaround of COVID-19 vaccine EXIM and transhipment movements, CSMIA said. It added that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) implemented by the airport in anticipation of the vaccine distribution saw the terminal register a cargo processing time of just seven minutes, right from goods acceptance to dispatch at ramp. Besides, the airport has deployed a dedicated COVID-19 task force in order to reduce dwell time and facilitate advanced planning and collaboration between the airport and …

SpiceJet has transported 3.5 tonnes of COVID-19 vaccines from Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad to 11 cities across the country. On January 13, 2021, SpiceJet shipped 111 boxes of Covid-19 vaccine, weighing 3.5 tonnes from Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad to 11 cities including Bagdogra, Dehradun, Srinagar, Jammu, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Jabalpur, Ranchi, Rajkot, Delhi and Bengaluru. The carrier said its freighter flight SG7555 operating from Hyderabad to Bengaluru took-off at 8.50 AM on Wednesday with a consignment of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin weighing 90 kg. From Mumbai, SpiceJet carried 74 boxes of Serum Institute of India’s (SII’s) Covishield vaccine to various cities including two to Bagdogra, 10 to Dehradun, seven to Srinagar, six to Jammu, six to Kanpur, nine to Gorakhpur, 13 to Jabalpur, 14 to Ranchi & seven to Rajkot. From Pune, SpiceJet carried 34 boxes of Covishield to Delhi on Wednesday. This follows the successful shipment of 4 million doses of Covishield by SpiceJet on January 12. The government on Monday placed firm orders in advanced commitments for over six crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines from SII and Bharat Biotech for inoculating three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase of the vaccination drive scheduled to start from January 16. The cost is Rs 1,300 crore.

Qatar Airways Cargo and DHL Global Forwarding have transported 246 containers of active pharma shipments from Milan, Italy to Chicago, USA between October and December 2020. The containers were transported by temperature-controlled trucks to Indianapolis from Chicago. These pharma shipments are being moved using RAP active containers leased from both DokaSch and Envirotainer. The pharma shipments consist of insulin, an injectable prescription medicine for adults with type 2 diabetes used to improve blood sugar (glucose) and reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in people who have heart diseases or multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo said, Qatar Airways, “We are glad to support DHL Global Forwarding with this large movement of injectable prescription medicines that will benefit adults with type 2 diabetes. The logistics around pharmaceutical transportation is complex and being at the forefront of time and temperature-sensitive transportation, we understand the intricacies of a seamless cool chain. Our QR Pharma solution is designed keeping in mind the seamless transport of all kinds of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products.” Christian Giacomin, Head of Airfreight Product Capacity Management & Pricing, DHL Global Forwarding (Italy) Spa said, “This important cooperation with Qatar Airways Cargo is a further step that adds value to our comprehensive portfolio of transportation solutions for the pharmaceutical products, enforcing our long-lasting expertise in this sector.” To be able to support its customer and the end user of the product, the airline implemented an additional weekly frequency directly from Milan to Chicago, bringing the total number of B777 freighters from Milan to Chicago to three per week. The significant investments in cold chain management are part of the cargo carrier’s strategy and commitment to improving and …

SpiceJet has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Belgium’s Brussels Airport to provide seamless transportation of Covid-19 vaccine. As strategic partners, both SpiceJet and Brussels Airport Company NV will jointly work with the government, pharma companies and forwarders to ensure a reliable ecosystem for vaccine delivery in a temperature-controlled environment. Besides, they will also work towards developing and strengthening a direct air link for SpiceJet with Brussels Airport. As part of the association, Brussels Airport will be SpiceJet’s first flight point for Europe. The airline’s cargo arm, SpiceXpress, envisions to provide rapid and secure transportation of Covid-19 vaccine from and to Europe and beyond with proper temperature-controlled mechanism under the MoU. The airport shall provide assistance to the carrier with regards to slots, networking contracts etc. to provide efficient and speedy solutions for delivery. Brussels Airport has several years of expertise in the transport of temperature-sensitive products and has handled multiple flights carrying Covid-19 vaccines recently. Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet said, “We are delighted to partner with Brussels Airport in our fight against the pandemic. This tie-up will help SpiceJet to seamlessly transport vaccines not only from Europe and beyond to India but also help Indian manufacturers export extremely sensitive drugs in a safe and controlled environment. We are fully committed and prepared to transport the Covid-19 vaccine and assist in the biggest vaccination drive in the history of mankind.” Arnaud Feist, CEO, Brussels Airport Company said, “As Europe’s preferred airport for the transport of temperature-sensitive products, Brussels Airport, certified IATA CEIV Pharma, has more than 30,000 sqm of temperature-controlled areas. As of today, we have already shipped more than 10 million doses of vaccine from …

Cathay Pacific Cargo has built on its many years of experience in transporting pharmaceutical shipments to develop a vaccine solution specifically for the fast and effective distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the globe. The new quality-assured solution facilitates the fast and effective import and transhipment of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. Tom Owen, Director – Cargo, Cathay Pacific, said, “With our 20 dedicated freighters and cargo bellies of passenger aircraft supporting our extensive freighter network, we stand ready to assist with what will be the biggest humanitarian response to a situation involving civil aviation that anyone has ever seen.” The cargo carrier is progressively rolling out ‘Ultra Track’ as a key part of the vaccine solution. The next-generation track-and-trace system monitors information including temperature, GPS location, and humidity, using low-energy Bluetooth readers. This gives shippers and forwarders near real time visibility, and ensures vaccines will remain within their transportation temperature ranges. Operations Control Centre In addition, shipments using Ultra Track will also be monitored by the newly established Operations Control Centre. Based in Hong Kong, and staffed by dedicated cargo professionals 24/7, the team can instruct ramp and cargo terminal staff to take proactive steps to ensure the various storage requirements of vaccines are maintained. Owen said, “Ultra Track will allow forwarders to monitor the condition of their vaccine shipments in near real time. It will be progressively rolled out through the first quarter of this year, and we will be offering the service free of charge for any COVID-19 vaccine shipments.” CEIV Pharma accreditation The combined approach follows on from an airport-wide recertification of IATA’s CEIV Pharma accreditation (the internationally recognised quality-assurance scheme for pharmaceutical shipments) at Hong Kong International Airport. …

Delhi Cargo Service Center handled the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine from Pune. The first consignment of the Covishield vaccine reached Delhi from Pune, four days ahead of the launch of the nationwide vaccination drive. The first truck carrying the shipment of COVID-19 vaccine entered on January 12, 2021 into the facility of Delhi Cargo service Center from the airside rolls. The company has created a green channel for COVID-19 vaccine to come in from airside to the DCSC domestic cargo terminal. The team at DCSC completed the task of unloading and re-loading of the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine in 10 minutes and one second.

GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) handled the first consignment of Covid 19 vaccines shipment arrived at the Cargo terminal by the Spicejet freighter from Pune. The vaccine consignment consisting of 31 boxes of 1 MT of Covishield vaccine were offloaded from the aircraft parked in the adjoining dedicated cargo apron and swiftly taken to the vaccine storage and handling areas in the GHAC Terminal. The Covishield vaccine consignment was handled as per the special protocol ensuring cool-chain integrity. A dedicated Vaccine Task Force that has been formed, with a nodal person, to ensure a seamless and high priority movement of Covid 19 vaccines handled the shipment at the Hyderabad International Airport. The Task Force ensured the quick movement of the vaccine through the domestic inbound section to the reefer truck bound for Consignee (State Govt. Dept.). Out of 41 mini-hubs planned across the country by the Govt of India, Hyderabad has been notified as one of the designated distribution points for South India. “The GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo has been relentlessly working for timely and smooth supply of essentials and other relief material during the Covid times to various destinations. The first consignment of the Covid 19 vaccine was today received at the Hyderabad International Airport. GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) has a major role cut out in the entire value chain of vaccine shipments and is well equipped with the necessary infrastructure to handle 100’s of MT of vaccine cargo per day. The terminal offers one of India’s largest fleet of the modern temp-controlled Cool Containers viz. Cool Dolly, Envirotainer, VaQtec, etc. The handling of the Covid 19 vaccine consignment has been a collaborative effort of all stakeholders involved, …

SpiceXpress has announced the launch of SpiceTag, a real-time tracking service for its partners and cargo agents which is set to elevate cargo shipment experience like never before. SpiceTag aims to revolutionise door-to-door cargo thereby making it utmost convenient for its partners enabling them to ship their cargo with speed and complete transparency. It is applicable for all domestic cargo, both door-to-door and airport-to-airport services. The cargo carrier has designed a transparent tracking system by providing end-to-end scanning, which enables customers to get live status updates. Automated notifications, shipment status reports, digital invoice downloading solutions are some of the other unique features of this service. Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet said, “SpiceXpress has the capability to deliver all kinds of cargo in a seamless and efficient manner both within and outside India. In the times of social distancing, technology and digitisation have extremely critical role to play in ensuring seamless execution of operations with utmost safety. SpiceTag is an idea emerging out of the same insight which helps in seamlessly transporting cargo with minimum human contact. With SpiceTag, we aim to further enhance our services by offering our partners the facility to track shipments on a real time basis.” In order to avail SpiceTag, our partners and agents will have to create an account on SpiceXpress which will allow them to make online booking of their cargo shipment through www.spicexpress.com. While the entire process is contactless, it also allows customers to make online payment through a payment gateway thereby offering a hassle-free experience.

MASKargo celebrated the success of its first charter flight of 2021 transporting approximately 20 tonnes of Covid-19 test kits from Seoul to Jakarta. The carrier utilised an Airbus A330-200 freighter for the flight, which operated between Incheon International in South Korea and Soekarno-Hatta International in Indonesia with a two-hour transit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The ad hoc deployment of the charter service was due to the urgent need to ensure timely delivery of the items, the carrier informs. Ibrahim Mohamed Salleh, Chief Executive, MasKargo says: “With the adequate infrastructure to ensure the safe handling, transportation, and distribution of the temperature-sensitive goods, MASkargo maintained the aircraft temperature at between 15˚C to 25˚C throughout the eleven-hour flight. This mission has proven beyond doubt, MASkargo’s capability and solid track record of carrying time and temperature-sensitive products within its network and beyond.”

With an aim to provide distribution and storage of the Covid-19 vaccine, Moderna and Kuehne+Nagel has announced that they have agreed an international supply chain arrangement. The announcement follows the granting of conditional marketing authorisation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for Covid-19 Vaccine Moderna. Kuehne+Nagel will support the worldwide distribution of vaccine doses from Moderna’s international supply chain, based in Europe. This includes distribution to markets in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, and parts of the Americas. “We are proud to be partnering with Kuehne+Nagel from Europe to support the distribution of vaccines to global citizens. Following the recent approvals, this is another step closer to resolving the pandemic and an exciting time for both our companies and everyone involved,” says, Dan Staner, Vice President Head of EMEA region, Moderna Inc. The arrangement includes distribution and warehousing of the vaccine from Kuehne+Nagel’s pharma hub in Europe. Kuehne+Nagel will use its network of more than 230 operations worldwide to distribute the vaccine via road and air. In Europe alone, the company operates its own fleet of over 200 dedicated pharmaceutical transport vehicles. At all stages of transport and storage, product integrity at the required temperature of -20°C will be maintained. Robert Coyle, Senior Vice President, Pharma & Healthcare, Kuehne + Nagel Management AG, comments: “With today’s announcement, we take on the responsibility to distribute Covid-19 Vaccine Moderna around the world. We have invested in our pharma & healthcare network and our global team of experts for decades – we are ready now, for when it matters the most.” Kuehne+Nagel’s clinical trial logistics subsidiary, QuickSTAT, has been an integral part of Moderna’s vaccine supply chain as well, having supported Phase …