IAG Cargo to offer time-critical service for pharma shipments

IAG Cargo has announced that it will expand its time-critical service to include pharma shipments.
The airline group, which includes British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, said that following successful trials of its Constant Climate Critical service across India, the UK and Europe, IAG Cargo is rolling out this new offering across all 109 Constant Climate enabled stations on its network.
The new enhancement means that shippers sending urgent pharmaceuticals now have access to the non-off loadable status and performance guarantees offered under its Critical product.
The service offers guaranteed capacity up to the maximum aircraft operating limit, and a dedicated monitoring service through hubs at London Heathrow, Madrid and Dublin.
Customers shipping through the carrier’s Heathrow and Madrid hubs will also benefit from a dedicated Critical check-in desk, significantly speeding up drop off and collection times.
IAG Cargo global head, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Alan Dorling said: “We were one of the first carriers to offer a dedicated pharmaceutical shipment product and today our teams across the world deliver the highest level of care and expertise when transporting high-value, temperature-sensitive goods.
“The development of Constant Climate Critical means that we are now able to build on our offering by providing vital vaccines and emergency lifesaving medicines with a non-off loadable status.
"In addition to our highest priority grading, the product continues to safeguard temperature-specific shipment requirements, maintaining the purity, potency and stability of the lifesaving medicines that we carry.”
Less than a year since its launch, Critical has already carried over 2000 emergency shipments for businesses across the world.
The range of goods moved has been diverse, from pre-launch consumer electronic devices to formula one tyres to factory down machine parts.
David Shepherd, commercial director at IAG Cargo, said: “Critical has been a real success; demand has come from right across our network and week on week we see both new requests and repeat business.
"We know that there is a real demand for guaranteed capacity and a must-fly service for urgent pharmaceutical products and it is crucial that we continue to innovate to ensure that we meet our customers’ needs.”
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