Acn pharma feb 2015 by CAL Cargo

FEATURE: PHARMA 13

AIR CARGO NEWS | 09 FEBRUARY 2015

CAL Cargo’s five minute tarmac target

EW freighters f and a five minute tarmac time are key elements of the pharma service offer from Cargo Air Lines, which is hubbed out of Liege airport in Belgium. Israel-headquartered CAL took delivery of a second 747400-ERF in December last year, completing the equipment upgrade of the carrier’s two-aircraft fleet following the arrival of a B747-400F earlier in 2014. They replaced two B747-200Fs that are now parked in a US desert, awaiting their fate. The CAL Pharma product for active and passive loads covers the entire airport to airport cool chain, with temperature-controlled cargo accounting for between 35-40 per cent of the airline’s total volumes, with pharma alone at around 2.5 per cent. Rami Marom, (pictured) vice president ground operations and chief operating officer of CAL, says: “In 2013-2014 we saw a 30 per cent growth in the use of active containers for pharma products. In 2015 we expect to see similar growth.” He adds: “The new aircraft expand our abilities relating to pharmaceuticals. First of all, we can better monitor the temperature during the flight, including the ability to print out a record of the temperature in all aircraft compartments during a flight.” CAL has a set of standard operational procedures for each customer which involves a risk analysis of the transfers within a cool chain, so that alternatives are found, where necessary. Another important issue, adds Marom, is that the greater non-stop range of the new freighters allows CAL to compete on charters, with direct flights rather having to make a technical stop for fuel, and so reducing the overall flight operational costs. Liege Air Cargo Handling Services (LACHS), in which CAL is the only shareholder, is the handling agent at the European hub and inventory station for Envirotainer. LACHS has a fully temperature controlled warehouse, of which 400 sq m is for cold storage, as well as being an inventory station for Envirotainer, a provider of active temperature-controlled air cargo containers. The warehouse also has mapping which can send an SMS in the event of a temperature excursion.

CAL is a QEP (Qualified Envirotainer Provider) and an accredited EQUiP (Qualified C-Safe Provider), while it is in the process of gaining IATA’s vid Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) for handling. pharma han Adds Marom: “The aircraft is one part of what we e offer to the market, but you have to see the total package.. In our industry one of the most problematic issues for pharma is the tarmac time from the handling agent to the aircraft. “In our cool chain and in all the places where we are re online, we are speaking about less than five minutes tes from the warehouse to the aircraft. The handling agent’s ability is an important part of the package.” One client, with a series of up to 15 charter flights per year from Europe to South America “insists on Liege” says Marom, who points out that a single pharma cargo on board a CAL freighter – with 25-30 active contain-

ers per flight - can have a total commercial value of several hundred million dollars. Marom points to a second strategic objective: “We note that Belgium has a huge pharma industry and today they are moving products via Brussels and Amsterdam airports. “We, We along with the airport, are trying to convince them to move their business to Liege, because we believe that Liege can provide better solutions.” bel It is the five minute transfer time at Liege that CAL sees as the big selling point. Adds Marom: CA “At a big airport you can face the situation of one hour from the warehouse to the aircraft, when on a temperature controlled product is moving on dollies. In our chain I am speaking of less than five minutes.” CAL has a six-prong strategy for growth which includes becoming a preferred carrier for multi-national forwarders, something it expects to achieve in 2015 with three key forwarders. ■

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Brussels in final stages for CEIV BRUSSELS Airport is in the final stages of IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) programme for pharmaceutical handling. Steven Polmans, head of cargo at Brussels Airport, says that around half of the companies participating in the programme have received their certificate in meeting the checklist of sector standards developed by IATA. The other companies should follow in the weeks to come. The European hub aims to become the world’s first certificated community in IATA’s CEIV Pharma programme, serving as a pilot project. All the different stakeholders involved in the Belgian airport’s cool chain are represented in the pilot group. Says Polmans: Due to

interest from other companies, we are now close to launching a second wave of certifications with forwarders and trucking companies, including some of the bigger players at the airport.” The Brucargo team is celebrating the January start of Qatar Airways’ pharma express, a twice weekly A330 freighter flight from Doha to Brussels and Basel, and back to Doha, linking the two main pharma hubs in Europe with the Middle East. Polmans adds: “And finally, we will start a new project with controlled temperature transport on air side. Air side transport at the airport remains a ‘black hole’ for many shippers, so we will work out a solution that will allow us to monitor and control the temperature on air side.” ■

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