The membership is a key step for the airline as part of its digitalisation strategy. The airline’s customers are able to make informed decisions and lane assessments to plan the most optimal routing for their time and temperature sensitive pharma shipments at the click of a button.
Qatar Airways Cargo has joined Validaide Capabilities Platform as a premium member. Through the membership, the cargo carrier is able to digitally manage and share its station capabilities for pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. Customers will be able to easily review the airline’s pharma handling capabilities at all the airports throughout its extensive network.
Qatar Airways Cargo has also joined the Advisory Board of Validaide which allows it to contribute to further developments to the platform and customise its features to benefit the end user. Qatar Airways Cargo and Validaide both pursue digitalisation projects within the broader air cargo industry.
Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways said, “Digitalisation is the need of the hour. Our premium membership with Validaide, the leading digital platform for special cargo gives access to our customers, logistics providers and pharmaceutical shippers to easily define and search for special cargo handling capabilities. Customers can also create lane assessments when transporting pharmaceuticals on our flights. We are easing the way for our customers do business with us, providing convenience and speed to market, which are the key benefits of going digital.”
Eelco de Jong, CEO at Validaide, said, “There is a strong need in the industry for collaboration and data sharing as transparency on transport and storage conditions is essential for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. We are very happy to add Qatar Airways Cargo to the Advisory Board as we share a strong support for collaboration and transparency in the industry.”
Natalie Niers, Head of Capabilities Platform at Validaide said, “Working closer together with Qatar Airways Cargo will help us create a better future. Firstly, easy access to the cargo carrier’s capabilities will be important for global forwarders in order to comply with regulatory requirements for pharma shipments. Secondly, Qatar Airways Cargo will play a key role in our community model and help us define the development roadmap.”
The airline’s product QR Pharma provides temperature-controlled air freight for pharmaceuticals, offering both active and passive solutions in cold chain logistics. Expertly-trained staff at every pharma destination ensure the cool chain is unbroken. In December 2020, Qatar Airways Cargo was awarded IATA’s Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) certification in pharmaceutical logistics at its hub in Doha.
Qatar Airways Cargo has invested considerably in its pharma solution through quality handling, infrastructure, facilities, people and procedures at each of its pharma stations including the Doha hub, adhering to high operating standards for transporting temperature-controlled products. Due to this, the cargo carrier’s volumes for pharmaceutical shipments has grown by 18% in 2020 over 2019.