AirBridgeCargo expands partnership with SkyCell for temperature-controlled containers

18-Jun-2019 - Last updated on 18-Jun-2019 at 16:14 GMT

(Image: Getty/Ricok69)

The Russian all-cargo airline AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has expanded its SkyCell partnership through which it will lease SkyCell’s containers as sales of temperature-sensitive products boom.

“SkyCell and ABC sealed a partnership to work jointly on existing and future business,” said Richard Ettl, CEO of SkyCell. “SkyCell works together with leading airline partners to globally offer the level of quality service today’s health care shippers demand.”

SkyCell’s line of passive containers keeps the internal temperature within the range of +2° to +8°C and +15°C to +25°C under external temperature excursions from -35°C to +65°C – and can maintain the needed temperature for more than 160 hours, according to the company.

The containers also are equipped with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to enable global tracking and monitoring.

“On the one hand, global pharmaceutical companies are shifting their focus towards biologics, which are particularly temperature-sensitive,” said Ettl. “Therefore, sales of temperature-sensitive products increase at more than 10% per year, twice as fast as the entire pharmaceutical sector in value terms.”

Ettl added, “On the other hand, the regulatory environment is becoming more and more complex, which means that supply chains must be absolutely robust.

“In order to counteract this complexity and create worldwide quality standards, the connection between quality and technology is increasingly made in pharma logistics.”