Changi Airport Group’s Managing Director for Air Hub Development and co-lead of the Changi Ready Taskforce, Mr Lim Ching Kiat said, “The Changi air cargo hub has always placed a strong emphasis on pursuing the highest standards in pharmaceutical cargo handling. Given our efforts in infrastructure upgrades and manpower training over the years, our air cargo hub is well-poised to handle the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines”.
Temperature-controlled environment throughout the airport cool chain
Changi Airport’s cargo handlers – dnata and SATS, have steadily been enhancing their cool chain infrastructure and equipment over the years to support the growing demands for transporting temperature-controlled cargo. dnata’s CoolChain and SATS’ Coolport, which consist of temperature-controlled warehouses with adjustable temperature ranges between -25°C and +25[3] and round-the-clock shipment monitoring. In addition, both handlers’ facilities are equipped with essential surveillance systems to ensure the security of the cargo.
Handling vaccines that must be stored in a frozen or deep-frozen state may require dry ice. Changi’s cargo handlers have ready access to dry ice to cater to such shipments along with trained personnel to handle them.
Robust air connectivity
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated air travel demand, resulting in a steep decline in passenger aircraft movements with a corresponding reduction in belly-hold capacity[4], Changi’s airline partners have been quick to ramp up charters and scheduled freighter operations since the onset of the pandemic. CAG has also worked with its partners to facilitate the introduction and growth of passenger services for cargo conveyance to alleviate the air cargo capacity crunch. As of 1 December 2020, weekly cargo flights at Changi Airport have tripled to more than 950 flights compared to end-2019. Changi Airport is now connected to about 80 cities by weekly cargo flights.
