Frankfurt Airport offers the best infrastructure for pharmaceutical transports
At Frankfurt Airport (FRA), approximately 120,000 tons of vaccines, medications and other pharmaceutical products were handled in 2019. This makes FRA the European leader. In this position, airport operator Fraport and Lufthansa Cargo, together with other partners of the air cargo community[1] at the site, see themselves well prepared for handling a possible corona vaccine.
Currently, around 12,000 square meters of temperature-controlled handling capacity with direct apron access are available at Frankfurt Airport. A good two-thirds of this is located in the highly modern Lufthansa Cargo Pharma Hub. An additional 2,000 square meters of space on the further airport grounds are about to be taken into operation.
These areas meet international and European standards. For example, Fraport has been meeting the requirements of the CEIV Pharma certificate[2] of the airline association IATA since 2018, as have eleven other service companies operating in Frankfurt. In addition, there are freight forwarders and airlines that meet the EU GDP standard. This means that more than 75 percent of the transport routes at the airport are certified. In addition, Fraport currently uses 20 ultra-modern thermal transporters to ensure the necessary temperature of the goods on their way across the apron as well.
“Frankfurt Airport offers the ideal infrastructural conditions for the handling of pharmaceutical goods. We are closely monitoring the current research for a corona vaccine. When the time comes, we will provide the best possible support together with our partners in the distribution of vaccines and medicines,” says Max Philipp Conrady, Head of Central Cargo Infrastructure at Fraport. “Already during the handling of urgently needed protective equipment and partly vital pharmaceutical goods at the beginning of the year, we showed that we, as a cargo community, make an essential contribution to supplying the population”.
