Our airport is a world leader in the transport of temperature-sensitive cargo such as medicines or vaccines. At the beginning of January, we invited strategic players from the pharma industry to view our latest investments.
Brussels Airport continues to invest heavily in logistics infrastructure and technology that is specifically tailored to the pharmaceutical industry. On Wednesday 9 January, various partners from the pharmaceutical industry convened for an on-site introduction to our specialised infrastructure and facilities.
Key sector for Belgium
The networking event took place in Gateway, the office building of Deloitte. Pharma.be (a Belgian umbrella organisation for pharma companies), Deloitte, Brussels Airport Company, CEOs and other representatives from the pharmaceutical sector, as well as vice-prime minister Didier Reynders, all attended. After all, pharma export is, without question, a key sector for our national economy!
Indeed, in 2017, pharmaceutical exports from Belgium amounted to 40.3 billion Euros and 12.3% of all European pharmaceutical exports were shipped from Belgium. It is therefore not surprising that Brussels Airport is investing 100 million Euros in the construction of 100,000 m² of state-of-the-art logistics buildings in the cargo zone. Amongst other things, this new infrastructure will be particularly suitable for the handling of high-grade, temperature-sensitive products such as pharmaceuticals.
Cold chain guarantee
The transport of pharmaceutical products is a delicate process: an uninterrupted cold chain must guarantee the products’ usability. In 2014, Brussels Airport became the first airport in the world to receive the CEIV quality guarantee, setting the global standard for temperature-sensitive transport. Several innovations by Brussels Airport continue to command significant interest worldwide (e.g. the Airside Pharma Transporter, a temperature-controlled vehicle that provides real-time information on the goods’ journey).
New technologies, including blockchain, are also being deployed for the BRUcloud digital platform, in order to improve collaboration between the various parties in the logistics chain. Moreover, part of the work is now done paperlessly; an ecological choice that additionally enables improved efficiency and time savings.