Along with it the land operator at the Sheremetyevo airport - the freight terminal Moscow - Cargo completely implemented the certification requirements to the AirBridgeCargo airline according to IATA CEIV Pharma requirements.

On November 22, 2016 the head of department of industry solutions of IATA branch in Russia Andrey Georgiyevich Bystrov solemnly handed the certificate of IATA CEIV to the CEO of AirBridgeCargo airline Sergey Aleksandrovich Lazarev.

«This certification demonstrates the quality of the processes associated with the handling of pharmaceutical goods, implemented by the airline and according to the most severe international standards. It should be noted that it is also the evidence of the attention that is paid by the management of the group of companies Volga-Dnepr to high-quality component of their work and the unification of their procedures with the advanced international standards», - said Andrey Bystrov.

According to the audit report the AirBridgeCargo airline confirmed the certification requirements of IATA CEIV Pharma to the infrastructure and the equipment of freight terminals, the engineering procedures of handling and storage of pharmaceutical freights, the documentation, the personnel training and the quality control system. Aircrafts of the airline are equipped with the most modern control facilities of temperature, humidity and pressure with a possibility of maintenance of the set temperature condition.

The certification was possible only on condition of confirmation the availability of necessary infrastructure, personnel, smoothly running processes from the ground operator. The cargo operator of JSC MASh LLC Moscow Cargo was successfully tested to confirm the certification requirements of the GDP standard (proper distributor practice).

I am glad that this event took place. It completely corresponds to our joint plans for long-term strategic partnership with the Sheremetyevo airport. We hope that our common efforts will create  cargo hub, corresponding to the ambitions of the airport management. And it will serve as the catalyst for the further development of activities of the airport and the airline which uses services of the airport, - the President of Volga-Dnepr Group Alexey Ivanovich Isaykin noted.

The Volga-Dnepr group of companies successfully presents the Russian air civil aviation at the international market for more than 25 years. The Group includes three leading Russian cargo airlines - multiple winners of the national award Wings of Russia Volga-Dnepr and AirBridgeCargo and also the Atran airline which history originates in 1942. The international group of the Volga-Dnepr has more than 3600 employees and its representations are located in 16 countries of the world. The basis of business of the Volga-Dnepr group is constituted by charter air transportations by unique ramp An-124-100 and Il-76TD-90VD (Volga-Dnepr airline) and regular air transportation of freights on the Boeing 747 family aircrafts (AirBridgeCargo airline).

AirBridgeCargo is one of the largest players of the international market of airfreight transportations. The airline performs regular cargo flights along routes Europe - Russia - Asia - the USA-Middle East on cargo aircrafts of the Boeing 747 family through a hub in Sheremetyevo. Now the fleet of ABC includes 16 Boeing 747 aircrafts, 5 from them are Boeings 747-400ERFs, two Boeings 747-400Fs and nine aircrafts are from the new generation Boeing 747-8F. Also AirBridgeCargo is using Boeing 737-400 cargo aircrafts for transportations in the regional markets and in the interest of the express integrators. The airline performs transportation of any types of freights, including those which require special handling or observance with a certain temperature condition.

The new refrigerating chambers were put into operation intended for storage of temperature sensitive pharmaceutical freights, upgraded fleet of apron mechanisation for the delivery of cargo temperature for delivery by the ground operator of LLC Moscow Cargo in 2016. Earlier Moscow Cargo successfully confirmed compliance with the certification requirements of the standard GDP. Thanks to the common efforts of AirBridgeCargo and LLC Moscow Cargo, the airline will be able to offer expanded opportunities to pharmaceutical operators and to increase the share in the market of services in transportation of these freights.

Health is one of our core corporate values. So getting this certificate is especially important for us, we are extremely aware of the importance of this event. CEIV Certification confirms that the company has defined and strictly fulfilled the standards of services in the transportation of pharmaceutical products. These temperature-sensitive freights require strict compliance with the necessary conditions of transportation, storage, delivery terms and other requirements which the carrier has to perform. Our airline has been able to carry out all the preparatory work in just 4 months and successfully pass the CEIV audit, within certification about 200 employees went through a special training. Our further step in the development of this direction will be the recognition of customer service we have provided matching the individual requirements and together with the efforts of our partners the development of the global Pharma hub on the basis of the airport Sheremetyevo "- said the General Director of the AirBridgeCargo airline Sergey Lazarev.

The implementation of such plans is impossible without the development plans of the airline’s partners in the same direction and forming of common goals and objectives. Obtaining an international certificate also is an important step in successful development of the strategic partnership between Volga-Dnepr Group and JSC Sheremetyevo International Airport which signed the agreement on long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation in development of a cargo hub of the international level at the Sheremetyevo airport this year. Joint compliance with CEIV standards and regulations from carrier and the airport will bring the market of transportations of pharmaceutical freights in Russia on a new level, offering customers high-quality transportation of temperature sensitive freights of a pharmaceutical profile.

«Ambitious tasks of AirBridgeCargo airline to establish the Pharma-hub the implementation of which has contributed by the CEIV PHARMA certificate will be solved thanks to the large-scale development program of the Sheremetyevo International Airport. Within this program in 2017 will be started the new automated cargo complex. Commissioning of the first line of a complex will be able to provide handling to 380 thousand tons of freights a year. The capacities will be increased to 1 million tons of freights a year in future. We are building the largest cargo hub in Europe which meets the growing requirements of the market and creates favourable conditions for long-term development of our aviation partners» - the CEO of JSC Sheremetyevo International Airport M. M. Vasilenko told.

There will be implemented two completely automated systems of shelf storage for aircraft ULD containers which will be placed by automated stacker in warehouse storage at this terminal. There are 570 line items for storage of containers in total. The automatic warehouse pallet storage system will be located near the road. It will store goods arriving in trucks for further shipment by air. It can be otherwise: there comes a container, the container is stored in a warehouse, and then enters the automatic processing station, it is restocked on system pallets, goes to the automated warehouse storage system and pallet trucks goes from the road to the recipient. The system completely automated to the maximum degree of automation which can be be achieved in the world today. That will allow to reduce the number of personnel involved in the traditional "manual" processing system, storage and dispatch of goods by 10 times. Total area of a new freight terminal will be 47 000 sq. m. Planned date of completion of a construction and commissioning is the 2nd quarter 2017. The volume of investment is $85 million.

The Sheremetyevo airport is the largest passenger and cargo hub in Russia, serving more than 33 million passengers and processing more than 280 thousand tons of freights and mail a year. At the airport there are airlines from three largest global aviation alliances which operate in more than 200 directions worldwide. At the moment the airport is implementing a large-scale comprehensive program of development and upgrade.

In addition to the cargo terminal, there will be introduced into service: the new (sixth) Passenger Terminal B of 20 million passengers per year, inter-terminal transition to the passenger and luggage tunnels, the third refuelling complex with capacity of 1 million tons of fuel per year by 2018. The amount of private investment is 865 million US dollars. In addition, with the assistance of the federal and regional budgets, there will be implemented projects for the construction of a third runway and the expansion of the bypass road between the north and south terminal complexes. Also new Aeroexpress station will be built in the southern part of the airport. The airport's capacity will reach 80 million passengers and 380 thousand tons of cargo per year.

photo: Julia Kuzmina