Turkish Airlines wins pharma CEIV accreditation

Turkish Cargo, the airfreight arm of Turkish Airlines, has been awarded IATA’s ‘Center of Excellence for Independent Validators’ (CEIV) certification for pharmaceutical logistics at its Istanbul hub.
The carrier has also trained a dedicated team to preserve the integrity of the cold chain and products and will introduce a thermal dolly service to protect shipments from the heat on the tarmac at Istanbul Atatürk airport.
Turkish Cargo has 3000sq m of storage area at Atatürk covering four different temperature ranges (from -20 °C to +25 °C) with healthcare products stored in a dedicated 1030sq m area.
Temperatures are monitored by telemetry, and all cargo movements are tracked with COMIS, Turkish Cargo’s IT software, in real time.
IATA established the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) in Pharmaceutical Logistics to help companies from the entire air cargo supply chain achieve excellence in their pharmaceutical handling operations.
The carrier’s senior vice president cargo, Şeref Kazancı, said: “Transportation of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products is a priority for Turkish Cargo. As we continue to expand our operations in this area, we remain committed to ensuring that we are operating to the highest possible quality standards.
"Achieving IATA CEIV Pharma certification means that our customers can have the confidence that their sensitive cargo will be handled – at every stage in the process – in accordance with the very best practices.”
IATA’s head of cargo, Glyn Hughes, added: “With the airline group’s commitment to investing in its workforce, state-of-the-art facilities, innovative products and certifications, Turkish Cargo’s customers can be confident that their life-saving and temperature sensitive products will be delivered in impeccable condition.”