GMR's cargo arm turns pharma shipments hub

Hyderabad GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC), subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, has become a hub for import of Covid vaccines and medicines into India. In order to address the anticipated surge in movement of Covid vaccines at Hyderabad, it has been expanding its landside and airside facilities to meet the requirements for handling large shipments of temperature-sensitive pharma products. The existing Pharma Zone facility is being expanded to almost double the area for handling increased movements of vaccine and pharma shipments. In addition to this, it has also increased the capacities of all temperature zones – 15-25 degrees Celsius, 2-8 degrees Celsius and -20 degrees Celsius. The entire Pharma Zone including the newly expanding area is equipped with temperature and humidity sensors.

GHAC is introducing 'Cold Super Store' as part of the extended Pharma Zone to mitigate any temperature excursions during unloading of pharma shipments. It had launched a custom built large Cool Dolly, a mobile refrigerated unit for airside transportation of large pallets till aircraft, maintaining the Cold-Chain. "During this pandemic situation, GHAC has been closely working with all the air cargo stakeholders while having dedicated task force in place for acceptance, screening, and handling of temperature sensitive Covid vaccines. The undertaken facilities upgrade will result in better cargo acceptance and processing time and thereby enhancing operational efficiencies," the company said in a statement. It adds, "GHAC is a WHO-GSDP (World Health Organisation-Good Storage and Distribution Practices) certified major gateway location in India. It is uniquely positioned to handle temperature sensitive cargo and ensure its seamless distribution. GHAC is equipped to serve both outbound and inbound vaccine shipments by providing world-class infrastructure for requisite temperature-controlled zones."

GHAC has been continuously working towards efficient distribution of Covid relief materials. Hyderabad region is set to be the single largest concentration of Covid vaccine manufacturing capacities globally, with an estimated 3.6 billion doses of various makes of vaccines expected to be produced by facilities in the region over the next 18-24 months.

From January, GHAC has handled more than 100 tonnes of Covid vaccines that were distributed from Hyderabad to various parts of the country. For the first time in India on May 1, it handled the large import shipment of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia, which required specialised handling and procedures to meet the stringent time and temperature (-20 degrees Celsius) constraints.

GHAC has partnered with Dubai Airports for launch of HYDXB-VAXCOR, a first of its kind of initiative in the industry to address the logistical challenge of moving vaccines between Dubai and India through Hyderabad airport as a hub. It has recently integrated Vaccine Ledger, a next-gen Block Chain solution to deliver enhanced track and trace solution and real-time monitoring of vaccine shipments from the city. GHAC's major airline partners are connecting Hyderabad to different parts of the country and the world. Currently, Hyderabad Airport has direct services to 58 domestic destinations and around 150 destinations globally including all major cargo hubs of the world. It has partnered with TSRTC to provide the first mile and last mile connectivity to various parts of South and Central India.