It’s a busy evening at Delhi airport’s cargo terminal, and Air India’s cargo team is buzzing with excitement as they gear up for something special – their first-ever airport-to-door international cargo delivery. The destination is a warehouse in Brussels – a city not directly served by Air India, and the shipment is six tonnes of life-saving pharmaceuticals that need to stay cool and effective until reaching their destination.
Here’s how Air India’s Cargo team handled the temperature-sensitive shipment with precision in partnership with a local ground team offering a cooled Road Feeder Service truck, delivering it to its destination in Brussels via Paris in less than 36 hours.
Temperature-controlled transportation throughout 36 hours
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The shipment, courtesy of SUN Pharma, a major player in specialty generics, is no ordinary load. Packed into four lower-deck pallets, these drugs require a steady 15 to 25 degrees Celsius to remain effective.
The journey starts in Delhi, where the pallets are carefully loaded onto an Air India flight to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Landing in Paris, the pallets are transferred to a cool Road Feeder Service (RFS) truck, maintaining that perfect temperature as it rolls through Europe to Brussels. Exactly 36 hours after leaving Delhi, the drugs arrive at the consignee’s warehouse. It’s a seamless handoff.
Transporting pharmaceuticals requires specialised logistics and high levels of precision. Air India recently received the Good Distribution Practices (GDP) certification for its cargo business, a testament to the airline’s compliance with international guidelines for safe and secure distribution of pharmaceuticals. “With the GDP certification, we have now become India’s only carrier with trained staff to manage active pharmaceuticals,” says Ramesh Mamidala, Head of Cargo, Air India.
“These first shipments of our new airport-to-door service is a step forward in progressively pivoting our cargo offering from ‘airport-to-airport’ to world-class ‘airport-to-door’ services, delivered to the highest standards. It’s not just about getting it there, it’s about getting it there right – with precision,” adds Mamidala.
Leveraging an extended global network
The successful completion of this delivery to a point outside of Air India’s own route network (Brussels) underscores the airline’s expanded global reach as well as efficiency in cargo service delivery. Air India operates over 5,000 weekly flights, covering 45 cities within India and 43 destinations across 31 countries and five continents, providing the widest point-to-point coverage from India to international destinations across ultra-long, long, medium, and short-haul routes.
In 2024-25, Air India moved over 4,000 tonnes of pharma goods globally. Going forward, airport-to-door deliveries will be a key part of its cargo business growth, creating more opportunities.
