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Sat, Dec 05, 2020 – 10:00 am
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has seven Boeing 747-400 freighters waiting in the wings for the transport of coronavirus vaccines, while its fleet of airliners is also ready to be deployed to increase capacity.
The carrier, in a media context on Saturday, said it will make cargo space available on the flights of its seven Boeing 747-400 freighters, and will prioritize vaccine shipments through key vaccine trade routes.
In addition, it could deploy its fleet of airliners to carry more vaccines if necessary.
SIA created a task force in May, long before the vaccine candidates made headlines in November, to ensure that all aspects of its cargo operations are prepared for the transportation of time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments.
The Business Times previously reported that Singapore is picking up speed on the transport of vaccines, including the creation of a public-private task force. SIA is a member of the group established by the Changi Airport Group and the Singapore Civil Aviation Authority.
In addition, SIA has signed master lease agreements with several cold chain container suppliers, as thermal protection systems are required to ensure that the various vaccines are stored in accordance with their temperature requirements. These agreements will ensure that the carrier has access to enough temperature-controlled containers to handle the large volumes of vaccines that need to be transported by air.
The company will also have devices on board for vaccine producers and their logistics service providers to track their shipments, including temperature monitoring.
“In addition to actively tracking shipments through these devices, SIA has a 24/7 cargo center operations team that will monitor vaccine shipments through its digital operations control tower,” the company noted at the release.
Its cold chain service network for the transport of time-sensitive and temperature-controlled pharmaceutical cargo was expanded to include Brisbane and Melbourne in September.
SIA Cargo transported around 22,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical shipments in the last financial year ending in March.
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