PARIS: August 29, 2019. Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) is opening a €10 million Pharma Centre at Paris CDG airport next month to expand its range of services for airline and freight forwarder customers. This latest investment follows the opening of WFS pharma facilities in Copenhagen, Johannesburg and Miami.
The Pharma Centre offers both landside and airside acceptance capabilities and will be fully GDP compliant when it opens. It will also become IATA CEIV Pharma certified, as part of an initiative launched by Group ADP within the air cargo community.
The 2,400 m² dedicated space has its own docks and manoeuvring area for the loading and unloading of temperature-controlled pharma shipments and facilities including a room for loose cargo storage at +15-+25°C with a capacity for 108 euro-pallets on four levels of racking; a cold room for loose cargo storage at +2-+8°C with the capacity to store 47 euro-pallets on the ground; a small freezing room for loose cargo storage at -20°C capable of handling nine euro-pallets at a time; and two temperature-controlled areas for +2 to +25°C for cargo unit load devices with a combined capacity to store 53 P2P or 106 AKE pallets.
WFS is also investing in new digital technology systems to improve operational efficiency and shipment visibility. A new warehouse management system (WMS) supports the use of barcode scanning for real-time storage capacity monitoring and management. This will ensure constant tracking of shipments from the Pharma Centre to and from aircraft with time and date statements available on demand. A temperature monitoring solution with a Cloud platform will collect temperature and humidity data in real-time via sensors and enable this information to be accessed on mobile devices.
Designed with flexibility to adjust capacity on demand, the WFS Pharma Centre is served by exclusively-designed temperature-controlled three-pallet trailers and cool dollies as part of WFS’ end-to-end airport handling solution.
The controlled-access Pharma Centre is also equipped with CCTV control and alarm systems monitored 24/7 by its Security Operational Centre. The facility also reflects the company’s environmental commitment with its investment in an all-electric fleet of forklifts and pallet trucks as well as a robust plastic and wood waste recycling programme.
Hugo Rodrigues, vice president Cargo France at WFS commented: “Pharmaceuticals continue to be one of the fastest-growing air cargo products and our airline customers have responded to this opportunity with dedicated products and services to meet this demand. At a major air cargo gateway like Paris CDG, we believe it is incumbent on ground handlers to invest in the right equipment to handle pharma products. Once again, this demonstrates WFS’ willingness to invest in new, state-of-the-art facilities when we see opportunities to benefit our customers and our own business.”
