Emirates SkyCargo opens dedicated pharma facility at Chicago, adds corridors

June 7, 2019: Emirates SkyCargo has commenced handling pharmaceutical cargo at a new purpose-built facility in Chicago and also expanded its initial network of 12 pharma corridors to 20.

The facility offers temperature controlled zones (2-8 degree Celsius and 15-25 degree Celsius) for acceptance and delivery, pharma cargo build up, breakdown and storage. The proximity of the facility to the ramp also means that cargo has to spend lesser time in transit to and from the terminal to the aircraft.

“Emirates SkyCargo is committed to the safe and secure transportation of temperature sensitive pharmaceutical shipments. Having a dedicated facility for pharma at one of our busiest stations for pharma in our network is a big boost to our pharma handling credentials and capability. This was also a unique model wherein we worked closely with the ground handler and were involved in the planning for the facility from the very beginning. Using our learnings from transporting pharma across six continents, we were able to collaborate to make the new pharma facility fit for purpose,” said Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president, Emirates SkyCargo.

The Chicago facility is spread over 1,000 sq. metres and dedicated solely for pharmaceutical shipments. Developed in partnership with ground handling company Maestro, the facility has a capacity of 15,000 tonnes of pharma shipments per annum. The facility provides comprehensive protection for pharma cargo through temperature controlled zones for acceptance and delivery, pharma cargo build up and break down, storage and direct ramp access.

Apart from the Chicago facility, Emirates SkyCargo has also expanded its initial network of 12 pharma stations to 20. As part of pharma corridors, Emirates SkyCargo works with ground handling partners and other local stakeholders at the stations that are important origin or destination points for pharma, in order to ensure a high standard of handling operations for pharmaceuticals.

“Pharmaceutical cargo being transported by air are growing in their sophistication and complexity in terms of the strict regulations for handling and temperature control. We introduced the pharma corridors initiative because we wanted to expand the required high standard of handling for pharma shipments further into our network and serve markets better from origin to destination," said Henrik Ambak, Emirates senior vice president, cargo operations worldwide.

“We have been successfully working with our ground handling partners at our major pharma points and the model has met with quite a lot of success and positive feedback from our customers. This has motivated us to replicate the model at more pharma stations thus growing our pharma corridors network to more than 20 stations. We’ll continue to look at how pharma flows through our network and add more stations in the future,” he added.