Lufthansa Cargo inaugurated its South Asia pharmaceutical hub at India’s Hyderabad airport with shipments of medicines to Philadelphia and Chicago.
The Md-11 freight flight followed Lufthansa Cargo’s certification of the airport as meeting the complex requirements for transporting temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals – the first station in its global network to be awarded this status.
“In parallel to the certification process, we are further expanding our own fleet of cold-chain containers in Hyderabad,” said Christopher Dehio, Senior Manager Global Key Accounts Temperature Control at Lufthansa Cargo.
Lufthansa Cargo and GMR Group, operator of Hyderabad airport, unveiled plans in December to jointly develop the airport into the key hub in South Asia for the transport of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals.
Lufthansa Cargo will operate three MD-11 freighter flights a week to Hyderabad, which has the capacity to handle 30,000 tons a year of pharmaceutical products.
Previously, textiles dominated Lufthansa export shipments from India, but pharmaceuticals, auto parts and electronic goods now account for half of the traffic.
The inaugural MD-11 freighter flight to Chicago and Philadelphia, via Frankfurt, carried consignments for the Dr Reddy and Gland Pharma companies.
The Journal of Commerce Online
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