This comes in the wake of the launch of its Cool Chain product two years ago.
Heading this focus is Darren Sherlock in the newly-created rôle of Manager, Products & Partnerships. Having joined the airline in 2011 as a Business Change Analyst, he was part of the team that developed Virgin Atlantic’s Cool Chain product in 2014.
The growth of the airline’s pharma business is being driven by its network, notably its high number of frequencies to and from the US, and daily flights connecting other major healthcare markets, such as India and China, and its service performance.
Mundipharma International is a regular customer of Virgin Atlantic. Its Head of Security Operations, Tom Cochrane, said: “Since starting using Virgin about five years ago to ship our cargo worldwide we have always found them to be amenable to our requirements and specifications. On all the routings we use we have found staff to be attentive and professional in implementing our required procedures. It comes as no surprise that they now wish to develop and extend this service on a formal basis so others can benefit.”
Virgin Atlantic’s Cool Chain product is designed to support passive shipments in the 15-25°C and 2-8°C ranges, based on its Just Ride and Must Ride services. Pharma shipments booked as Must Ride have the added benefits of priority access to capacity and a 100% money back guarantee. The airline is also approved to carry temperature-controlled active cargo containers from partners CSafe and Envirotainer and leases containers on behalf of its customers on request.
