Cargo Breaking News
In order to meet the safe and effective distribution of these vaccines around the world, Singapore Airlines (SIA), over the last few months, has been actively engaging various stakeholders across the supply chain and in pharmaceutical export markets. An internal COVID-19 task force was set up in May 2020 to ensure readiness across all aspects of cargo operations, and manage the crucial task of safely carrying these time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments. “We have been working hard to ensure that we are ready for one of the biggest and most important supply chain challenges of our generation the transportation and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world,” says, Chin Yau Seng, Senior Vice President Cargo, Singapore Airlines. He adds, “We will continue to grow our pharmaceutical handling capability by investing in our THRUCOOL service and expanding our pharmaceutical quality corridor network. We are also working closely with our service partners to continuously improve pharmaceutical handling processes and capabilities across our network.”
The carrier will make available cargo space on its flights and accord uplift priority to COVID-
19 vaccine shipments across the key vaccine trade lanes. This means readying the
Boeing 747-400 freighters, as well as the passenger aircraft fleet which will be deployed on cargo operations to increase the capacity for vaccine transportation where needed.
Leveraging its network connectivity, SIA Cargo carried about 22,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical shipments across its network coupled with SIA extensive network connectivity for the financial year ended March 2020. In order to strengthen its pharmaceutical transport product, SIA has been actively expanding its THRUCOOL1 quality corridor network, with the latest additions to the network being Brisbane and Melbourne in September this year.
To build robust capabilities and ensure product integrity, SIA has signed Master Leasing Agreements2 with key cold chain container providers such as CSafe, DoKaSch, Envirotainer, Skycell and Va-Q-Tec, to ensure that the airline has access to sufficient temperature-controlled containers to handle the large volumes of vaccines that need to be transported by air.
The carrier has been working closely with its ground handling partner at Changi Airport, SATS, to ensure that the Singapore air hub is ready to handle and store large volumes of pharmaceutical shipments effectively. The airline is also part of the joint public-private taskforce set up by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Changi Airport Group. Through the joint public-private taskforce, SIA works closely with key stakeholders in the air cargo industry, as well as with regulatory authorities, to ready its capabilities to transport COVID-19 vaccines to and through the Singapore air hub.
