It’s a RAP, Virgin Atlantic Cargo approves CSafe’s container for pharma shipments

Virgin Atlantic Cargo has approved CSafe’s new RAP container for transporting temperature-sensitive healthcare products, becoming the first UK airline to do so.
Following its approval by both the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the unit has been approved by Virgin Atlantic’s own operations specialists to be carried across the airline’s international network.
The CSafe RAP is the only FAA and EASA approved active compressor-driven container permitted in both the upper deck and lower deck cargo sections of commercial aircraft.
Under the terms of its Master Lease Agreement with CSafe, Virgin is now accepting bookings for the new RAP container. Virgin already offers customers the opportunity to lease the CSafe RKN container as well as Envirotainer’s RKN t2, RAP t2, RKN e1 and RAP e2 units for temperature-controlled pharma products.
The CSafe RAP uses CSafe’s active Temperature Management System (TMS) which utilises compressor driven cooling technology and a radiant heating system (depending on the ambient temperature), in conjunction with CSafe’s innovative and proprietary ThermoCor vacuum insulation panel technology.
This enables the unit to maintain a strict payload temperature setting throughout transportation, regardless of the actual ambient condition.
With a maximum payload weight of 4.8 tonnes, the CSafe RAP is designed to accept up to four US wooden pallets or as many as five Euro pallets.
It can also be bulk loaded directly on the floor of the container to increase payload volume due to the unique design of the under-floor air recirculation system, and offers an extended battery run time of up to 100 hours for typical shipments.
The CSafe RAP has a temperature range that is user selectable from +4°C to +25°C, with operational capabilities achieving desired set-points even at extreme ambient temperatures (-30°C to +54°C).
Darren Sherlock, manager – products and partnerships at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “With our pharma volumes growing by more than 20% in 2017 and coming just weeks after the opening of our new Pharma Zone at London Heathrow, this latest enhancement to our service offering underlines our commitment to be a leading provider of pharma transportation by offering our customers the widest choice of solutions, supported by the highest levels of customer service.”
Brad Jennings, VP of global marketing and partner management at CSafe Global, added: “The combination of Virgin Atlantic’s expansive network and the superior quality and performance of the CSafe RAP offers a powerful solution for the transportation of temperature-sensitive products around the world.”
Together with its joint venture partner, Delta Cargo, Virgin now offers almost a quarter of all transatlantic cargo capacity, the world’s biggest pharma trade lane. 
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