Finnair Cargo Ready to Transport COVID19 Vaccines

Finnair Cargo, the first airline in the world to receive IATA’s CEIV Pharma certificate in 2015, has said that it is ready to transport COVID19 vaccines once they are ready.

Whilst there are currently many potential vaccines at different stages of trials, it is not yet clear when a vaccine will become available, if indeed one does.

In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Matt Hancock, the UK's Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, said that his “central expectation” is that the rollout of a vaccine could be underway in the first half of 2021, though he also admitted that he did not know if that will happen.

There is also not yet any publicly available information on the exact requirements for transporting the vaccine, nor how one would be allocated when would one does eventually make it through all the required tests.

“It is a known fact that there is always a risk when transporting temperature-sensitive items, that’s why our job is to make sure we protect the product integrity in all possible ways,” said Tommi Voss, Head of Operations at Finnair Cargo. “We have a dedicated pharma area to manage the arrival and build-up of temperature-controlled cargo. And our aircraft can be parked right outside the terminal which makes the process fast; temperature-sensitive items can be loaded in the plane in under 30 minutes.”

Finnair Cargo has partnered with all major active container manufacturers to further ensure the safe transportation of the vaccines.

Speed and product safety are expected to be the most important deciding factors when designing the supply chain for the COVID19 vaccine.

“We have a history of excellence in pharma logistics and with our new terminal, we have lifted all the monitoring and control to 100% in our premises,” said Fredrik Wildtgrube, Head of Global Sales at Finnair Cargo. “We can offer the shortest flight distance to all major cities between Northern Europe and Asia, due to our location. Due to our geographic location, our wide network and operational excellence, we can provide the speed required to carry the vaccines.”

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