HYD Airport, Dubai Airports to build Covid-vaccine airfreight corridor

January 4, 2021: GMR Hyderabad International Airport & GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GMR-HYD) and Dubai Airports came together to build an exclusive vaccine air freight corridor product called HYDXB-VAXCOR (Hyderabad to Dubai global vaccine corridor).

As per the MoU, GMR-HYD and Dubai Airports will be according priority to the temperature-sensitive vaccine shipments moving between GMR Hyderabad and Dubai Airports for further connections to various continents as part of the HYDXB-VAXCOR and build this service offering for the vaccine customers and logistics stakeholders with simplified processes and infrastructural support.

As part of this joint initiative, Dubai Airports has identified GMR-HYD as a key strategic air cargo partner to leverage its global distribution eco-system, while GMR-HYD will leverage Dubai Airport as a key strategic collaborator towards facilitating the global vaccine supply chain with the provision of value-added services for vaccine exporters and importers from both the countries.  

The partnership also entails technology collaboration, under which both the entities will explore and work together on an integrated IT solution that will provide end-to-end visibility including shipment temperature and status tracking for the customers while cargo is in Transit between HYD and DXB and during its onwards journey to various global destinations.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said, “A major surge in demand for the efficient, safe and reliable global distribution of high volumes of Covid-19 vaccines is expected in the coming months and as the world’s preeminent hub of choice, we wanted to be ready to respond to and accommodate that demand. Our partnership with GMR-Hyderabad is timed perfectly just as the global race to develop the vaccines enters the final stage. This corridor is the result of our proactive strategy to be ready with innovative, collaborative and agile shipping solutions for the industry.”

We are elated to announce that GMR Hyderabad International Airport, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo and Dubai Airports signed MoU to launch Project “HYDXB-VAXCOR” for worldwide distribution of Covid-19 Vaccine.@ACWmagazine @Air_Cargo_News @_CargoTalk_ @MoCA_GoI @DXB @AirCargoIndia pic.twitter.com/pDgwjICeUM

— RGIA Hyderabad (@RGIAHyd) January 4, 2021

Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport, said, “GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo has always been the preferred gateway for India’s vaccine exports. In the current global context, there is a need for meticulous planning & collaborations to ensure safe and efficient air transportation of Covid-19 Vaccines. Accordingly, we have partnered with Dubai Airports to jointly offer “HYDXB-VAXCOR” for global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.  We are also significantly upgrading our handling capacities for Covid-19 vaccine shipments requiring cold to ultra-cold temperature ranges and becoming India’s largest air cargo center both for export/imports and domestic distribution of the vaccine.”

SGK Kishore, executive director -South & chief innovation officer, GMR Airports, said, “As the world embarks on an unprecedented vaccination drive to combat Covid-19, our collaboration with Dubai Airports in the form of an exclusive vaccine air freight corridor - “HYDXB-VAXCOR” will play a key role in enabling seamless, safe and efficient shipment of Covid-19 vaccines to and from Hyderabad, the pharma capital of South Asia.”

Also read: HYD Airport ready to handle export, import of Covid-19 vaccines

GMR-HYD is located in the proximity of several major vaccine producers and is an established hub for export of India manufactured vaccines to target markets in Europe, Africa, the US and Asia. It is positioned to handle temperature-sensitive vaccine cargo and ensure distribution across the world through major hubs such as Dubai Airports.

GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo is a WHO-GSDP (World Health Organisation- Good Storage and Distribution Practices) Certified major gateway location in India for handling pharma and vaccine shipments.  It has India’s 1st dedicated Pharma Zone, large-sized Tunnel X-ray machine and stocking stations for various cool containers like Envirotainer, va-Q-tec, CSafe, DoKaSch.

GMR-HYD is expanding its facilities and streamlining processes both on landside and airside to meet the unique requirements of handling Covid-19 vaccine.  It has already launched a large, custom-built cool dolly, a mobile refrigerated unit for airside transportation till aircraft maintaining the cold-chain, this year, which is scalable.