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Emirates SkyCargo receives QEP accreditation across 67 stations |
DUBAI, UAE, July 22, 2010: Emirates SkyCargo has been awarded Quality Envirotainer Provider (QEP) status following stringent audits carried out by Envirotainer™ - the pioneer and leader in developing active temperature controlled air transportation solutions.
The award means Emirates SkyCargo has been formally recognised as being a competent industry best practices carrier for pharmaceutical products.
Around 24 per cent of the 1.6 million tonnes of cargo the airline carried in 2009 was temperature sensitive, including pharma, life science, fruit and vegetables, fish and meat, and flowers.
Ram Menen, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President Cargo, said: "In recent years we have invested heavily in our temperature-sensitive cargo handling capabilities, from training staff around our network to our 5,000sq-metre dedicated perishables facility at our Dubai hub, to the Envirotainer containers we lease to carry these high-value shipments. In the last year alone, we experienced a 40 per cent growth in pharma traffic."
Emirates SkyCargo trained staff at 67 stations across its network, including its global hub in Dubai, before successfully completing the audit process. This required providing a clear demonstration that the airline had in place the quality procedures for training, procedures, audits and systems to manage and handle Envirotainer containers.
This involved specially designing ramp transfer and hub operations procedures, together with deployment of temperature controlled equipment and storage areas to ensure end to end integrity of all temperature-sensitive shipments at the 43,600 sq metre Cargo Mega Terminal in Dubai.
Thomas Persson, Envirotainer CEO, explained that the QEP training and quality programme was developed at the request of shippers of healthcare products.
"The QEP programme acknowledges those service providers that are capable of properly managing shipments using Envirotainer containers," he said.
"Emirates SkyCargo has included Envirotainer-related elements into their Cool Chain solutions as defined in IATA Perishable Cargo Regulations Chapter 17 Air Transport Logistics for Temperature-Sensitive Healthcare Products."
The QEP Training and Quality Programme is offered to freight forwarding, warehousing, ground and air transport service providers.
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