Ethiopian Airlines, the largest aviation group in Africa, is pleased to announce that it has received the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification from IATA as a company air and ground handling in December 2021. Ethiopian Airlines is the first airline in Africa to receive CEIV pharma certification. Achieving this milestone will further enhance our goal of providing efficient and effective transportation of pharmaceuticals across our entire pharmaceutical network including Brussels, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Paris, Seoul, Lagos, Lusaka, Beijing, Hong Kong, Maastricht, Chicago and Addis Ababa.

Following the certification, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said: “We are delighted to receive this important global certification, the IATA CEIV Pharma certificate, which is a strong assurance of one of the global standards highest in the aviation and logistics sectors. With an annual capacity of over one million tons, our global air cargo and logistics hub in Addis Ababa has various special cargo handling facilities such as pharmacy and life sciences, live animals, perishable goods, live seafood, dangerous goods, etc. As a result, we have worked very hard on our pharmaceutical and life science processing facility to meet global standards in technology, process and training. The IATA CEIV Pharma certification has come at the right time for the Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics team as they continue to play a key global role in the transport of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines around the world and in particular to the African continent. The journey to even greater success in the logistics market has started for Ethiopian Airlines, as we are already equipped with enormous capacity in terms of cold chain facilities, equipment, systems, processes and more. of professionals dedicated to pharmaceutical management. “

Ethiopian, in recent years, has invested heavily in infrastructure, equipment, people, systems and processes to improve its core pharmaceutical processing capabilities across its pharmaceutical network. The cold storage areas of these freight facilities are dedicated to handling pharmaceutical and healthcare products and equipped with dedicated climate control ranging from -30 degrees C to +25 degrees C. These facilities are monitored via a system. Intelligent web that allows real -time management of all zones with the possibility of triggering SMS, phone calls and emails in case of emergency.

The strategic and geographical location of the Ethiopian Airlines home airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, makes it highly preferable for the transport of highly temperature sensitive products with natural temperature stability all year round. between +15^ohC to +25^ohC, which will play an important role in minimizing potential temperature deviations along the value chain. In addition, Ethiopian has also deployed smart carts to ensure the smooth transportation of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals from warehouse to aircraft and vice versa with the ability to maintain internal temperature between -29 degrees C and +. 27 degrees C.