Cathay Pacific Services Ltd (CPSL) earlier this month opened its newest facility at the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal (CPCT), a fully temperature-controlled area of over 1,250 square metres dedicated to the handling of pharmaceutical products.

The purpose-built Pharma Handling Centre was designed and built with unique pharma-handling requirements in mind, taking advantage of the latest technologies and designs to offer peace of mind temperature-sensitive cargo solutions for customers. Features include:

> Real Time Temperature Monitoring: The web-based monitoring system facilitates real-time temperature and humidity management (with over 60 temperature sensors) to ensure all handling is under the controlled ambient temperature (15oC to 25oC).

> Temperature Controlled Dock Shelter: The temperature-controlled lobby includes truck docks with inflatable shelters for virtually airtight sealing for vehicles, maintaining optimal temperature during acceptance and delivery.

> Multiple Charging Points: Utilising an innovative suspended mobile power system, including 45 movable charging points in the staging area to accommodate active container charging to support their continuous operation for onward flights.

> Sustainability: The Pharma Handling Centre utilizes non-ozone depleting HFC refrigerants and has been built with 420 high-thermal insulation panels and inflatable dock shelters to be energy efficient.

The new Pharma Handling Centre is directly connected to the Container Handling System (CHS) to ensure prompt acceptance, storage and delivery and has been built to IATA CEIV Pharma standards. The new facility is capable of processing 235,000 tonnes of pharmaceuticals per year, doubling the CPCT’s existing cold storage area and capacity. It is the largest dedicated pharma handling centre of any Hong Kong-based air cargo terminal.

The Pharma Handling Centre is one part of CPSL’s “Total Cold Chain Solution” ensuring valuable cold chain shipments remain at the optimal temperature from the moment they arrive at the CPCT to the moment they depart, transferring them as safely, efficiently and quickly as possible. CPSL also has a 1,250 square-metre multi-temperature-zone cold room, a perishable-handling centre for immediate perishable handling, thermal dollies for transfers between aircraft and terminal as well as our internet of things (IoT) enabled MobiFresh solution.

CPSL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific Airways, operating the latest air cargo facility in Hong Kong – Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal (CPCT). The Terminal provides a full span of air cargo services for airlines operating at Hong Kong International Airport and is capable of handling an annual throughput of 2.7 million tonnes.