ABC and DHL complete a multi-modal RKN vaccine shipment to Miami

AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has completed a successful multi-modal pharma trial shipment for DHL Global Forwarding (DGF) to deliver healthcare products from Moscow to Miami.
The shipment, which replaced real vaccines with service water for test purposes, used an RKN active cargo container in accordance with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) cool chain standards.
Said a spokesperson for Russian all-cargo carrier ABC: “This represents a new solution in the Russian market for an RKN to be physically loaded in a pharmaceutical cooler of a production plant without additional cross-dock operations during the main leg delivery to Miami.
“The total solution provided by the ABC and DGF teams covered delivery, leasing and guaranteed customs clearance for the customer as well as ensuring a minimum transit time and the elimination of temperature risk.”
The RKN is a certified air cargo ULD container which maintains product temperatures in either the +2 to +8°C range, in the controlled room temperature range of +15 to +25 °C, or at any chosen set temperature within the operating range of 0 to +20°C throughout the transportation process.
For the trial shipment, using an Envirotainer RKN unit, the service partners were able to test the delivery process at each step of the transportation and monitor the condition of the water, which replicates the state of vaccines under similar circumstances.
Together with DGF Russia, ABC supplied the Envirotainer unit to the customer’s warehouse and accepted the cargo as a fully built-up unit ready for carriage at its airport warehouse premises.
The trial shipment, on an ABC Boeing 747 freighter, flew from Moscow on a direct route to Chicago, where the Envirotainer RKN  was loaded onto a refrigerated truck to take the more than 400 kg of ‘vaccines’ to Miami.
Even though the special container can run on battery power for more than 90 hours and sustain the required temperature range, it was decided to maintain +5⁰ C inside the truck to introduce a second safety measures. From Miami, the RKN continued its journey to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, onboard another carrier.   
Fedor Novikov, global director, pharma for ABC, said: “We are proud to be been given this opportunity to demonstrate the quality of the pharma solutions we can provide and to have earned the trust of our customer for the organization of vaccines transportation.
“With ABC only developing temperature-sensitive solutions for less than a year, it is a huge achievement to be chosen to provide dedicated lift of healthcare products, which will improve the quality of life for people of the Republic of Nicaragua when we commence the delivery of vaccines in 2018.”
The airline achieved IATA CEIV Pharma certification in 2016 and in September 2017 gained Envirotainer QEP accreditation at its global hub at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport and in Dallas.
In the following two months, ABC gained additional accreditation for its online stations in Milan, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and Chicago.
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