Vaccines milestone for Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo has reached a major milestone in the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Close to 2800 tonnes of vaccines have been transported on Emirates flights, equivalent to nearly 600m doses since October 2020.

With the increasing roll-out of vaccination and booster campaigns across global markets, Emirates SkyCargo witnessed a steady increase in the demand for transportation of COVID-19 vaccines in the second half of 2021.

In October and November 2021 alone, Emirates SkyCargo moved more than 200m doses of COVID-19 vaccines, almost one third of the total COVID-19 vaccines transported by the carrier since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaccines were flown from 35 origins to 80 destinations across six continents. More than 400m doses were flown to countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia and these regions continue to be priority markets for vaccine delivery.

The intensive vaccine initiative is supported by further fleet investment. Emirates SkyCargo recently signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for two B777Fs that will join its fleet in 2022. Four of the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft will also be converted into freighters between 2023 and 2024.

“With our extensive reach across six continents, our wide-body capacity and expertise in cool chain logistics, Emirates SkyCargo will continue to be a reliable partner for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the months to come,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice president, cargo.

Emirates SkyCargo offers cool chain solutions for pharmaceutical cargo with Emirates Pharma- a specialised three-tiered air transportation product designed for temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals and backed by Emirates’ GDP certified pharma infrastructure at its cargo hub in Dubai.

In June 2021, Emirates SkyCargo expanded its pharma cool chain infrastructure at Dubai International Airport, allowing it to store an additional estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Emirates SkyCargo’s GDP certified pharma terminal in Chicago has handled more than 160m doses of COVID-19 vaccines flown from the US to countries around the world.

Emirates Skycargo to expand freighter fleet with $1bn investment

Emirates SkyCargo volumes close in on pre-pandemic levels in H1

Emirates SkyCargo adopts PROS for dynamic pricing