QatarAirways Cargo recently confirmed on Twitter that it has transported 54 tonnes of pneumococcal and varicella vaccines to India.

Despite the huge logistical challenges brought about by the worldwide Coronavirus crisis, Qatar Airways Cargo has successfully transported 54 tonnes shipments consisting of ultra-delicate pneumococcal and varicella vaccines on two separate flights.

The shipment of vaccines required a zero-defect, temperature-controlled passage throughout their entire journey to Mumbai via the Middle East.

The vaccines, which were loaded inside 56 containers manufactured by Swiss-based pharmaceuticals containerisation specialist SkyCell, were flown from Brussels to Mumbai, via the carrier’s Doha hub, on two separate services.

On arrival at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, the containers were stored airside at the QR Pharma – the airline’s premium cool-chain product climate control centre – before being moved to another aircraft to fly to Mumbai the following day.

The airline’s pharma centre is equipped with segregated temperature-controlled sections for the storage of pharmaceuticals transiting the hub, with two zones operating at 2°C to 8°C or 15°C to 25°C, with a capacity to house 156 unit-load devices at a time, says a company statement.

The airport also has 64 temperature-controlled individual cells inside the cargo terminal’s cold-room and Qatar Cargo utilises refrigerated vehicles at its hub for all temperature-sensitive cargo to ensure and maintain temperature requirements on the ground.

During the interim storage in the airport’s cold chamber, SkyCell’s hybrid containers were able to recharge themselves, thereby extending their independent run-times for another 72 hours after their arrival in Mumbai, a statement explains.

Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer of cargo at Qatar Airways, states: “When transporting climate control products, we ensure the cool chain is unbroken to preserve the efficacy of all medicines and pharmaceuticals shipments flown on Qatar Airways Cargo.”

The COVID-19 crisis has created quite a number of challenges for global trade, he insists. “However, air cargo is a resilient industry and we continue to operate our cargo flights supporting customers to transport their cargo around the world.”

Chiara Venuti, business development director of SkyCell, adds: “The COVID-19 crisis leaves no room for error and direct product release without temperature deviation is key. We are therefore proud to have contributed with our container solutions to the safe and timely delivery of these critical vaccines to patients in need.”

Twan Reijers, vice-president of freight management, Benelux, at CEVA Logistics, adds: “‘With the help of Qatar Airways Cargo, we have been able to assist the Global Biopharma company to move a large quantity of its vaccines in the compliant and controlled SkyCell environment.”

“We are proud that our freight forwarding network arranged the set up for shipping these volumes, with zero tolerance towards temperature excursions during the COVID-19 lockdown, into India – which is still very much impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he adds.