SAUDI Arabian Logistics (SAL) has opened a new state-of-the-art pharmaceuticals facility at its expanded warehouse at the Dammam-based King Fahad International Airport’s (KFIA) Cargo Village.
Before the expansion, the total area of the medical storage facilities stood at 118 sq m but, after the upgrade, is now some 542 sq m which provides an operational airfreight capacity of 14,000 tonnes a year, a company statement reveals.
The rejuvenation project includes a 262-sq m area dedicated to the storage of shipments with temperature requirements ranging between 15-25 Celsius, and another 262-sq m store for those requiring temperatures between 2-8 Celsius.
The facility – which meets the latest international standards of the World Health Organisation, the European Commission’s Good Distribution Practice for handling and storing medicinal products, and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority – can also store different types of medical shipments which require very low temperatures and below zero, it adds.
Saudi Arabia launches Dammam pharma airfreight center Omar bin Talal Hariri, chief executive of Saudi Arabian Logistics
Omar bin Talal Hariri (right), chief executive of Saudi Arabian Logistics, points out that the company has enhanced the quality of its medical storage warehousing services with the installation of state-of-the-art temperature-controlling equipment and devices, as well as sufficient safety back-up systems.
“We are ushering in a new phase of advanced cargo handling services for pharma and medical equipment,” Hariri observes. “We are creating the proper environment and developing the infrastructure for the current needs, which has seen an increasing demand in pharma and medical equipment cargoes during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
SAL, which provides integrated logistics and ground handling services, also acts as a physical link between land and sea shipping and Saudi’s airports in line with the goals of the country’s National Industrial Development and Logistics Programme (NIDLP), which is one of 13 Vision Realisation Programmes under the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative.
The company, which is a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation, is the main ‘cargo gate’ at the Kingdom’s airports and is the only logistics entity that connects airlines with airports, providing them with a range of services, including ground handling, e-commerce activities, land transportation, warehouse management and storage solutions.
