Qatar Airways Cargo has added Finnish capital Helsinki to its expanding pharma network, the Middle East carrier’s 74th pharma destination.
Qatar Airways’ chief officer cargo, Ulrich Ogiermann, said: “The expansion of our pharma network helps us meet the growing air freight requirements in the pharmaceutical industry where time and temperature management are of paramount importance.
"We understand the intricacies in maintaining a seamless cool chain for pharmaceuticals. With the inclusion of Helsinki in our QR Pharma network, we can now offer pharmaceutical importers and exporters in Finland seamless connectivity, while adhering to the highest cool chain standards.”
Finland is a part of the strongly international pharmaceutical market and attracts hundreds of clinical trials in Finland every year. The pharmaceutical service system in the country is dependent on imports, while exports of pharmaceutical substances and medicinal devices from Finland grew by over 6% in 2016.
Qatar Airways launched flights to Helsinki in October last year. The daily direct B787 Dreamliner flights provide more than 70 tonnes of belly capacity each way, connecting pharma import and export businesses to a global network of over 150 destinations via the airline’s GDP compliant hub in Doha.
Qatar Airways Cargo recently signed an agreement with Dokasch to offer its Opticooler range of temperature-controlled containers for pharmaceuticals and healthcare products.
The cargo carrier’s customers can now choose from a range of active containers such as Envirotainer, CSafe, DoKaSch and va-Q-tec to transport their pharmaceuticals to and from the cargo carrier’s extensive network globally.
Qatar Airways Cargo commenced operations of a dedicated airside Climate Control Centre earlier this year. The 2,470 sq m facility, with two zones operating for 2°C to 8°C or 15°C to 25°C, enables the cargo carrier to handle an additional 2m tonnes throughput per annum.
