Abu Dhabi and Belgium establish pharma air corridor

The dedicated pharma trade lane will unite key compliant and sector-certified supply chain stakeholders and help Abu Dhabi to strengthen its capabilities as a life sciences hub

The collaboration builds on the capabilities of Abu Dhabi’s healthcare sector as a leading life sciences hub and the efforts of the HOPE Consortium in providing vaccine solutions for the world.

This initiative, which entailed a delegation visit from Belgium to Abu Dhabi, hosted by the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, saw the signing of two declarations of collaboration between Belgium and Abu Dhabi.

The first was between the HOPE Consortium, Abu Dhabi Airports Company, Brussels Airport Company and Pharma.Aero, and aims to unite key compliant and sector-certified supply chain stakeholders, including forwarders and ground handling agents, to establish a fully compliant origin-to-destination pharma air corridor between Abu Dhabi and Brussels Airports.

Earlier this year, a delegation from the HOPE Consortium met with pharmaceutical industry stakeholders in Brussels to showcase Abu Dhabi’s global vaccine distribution success. Thanks to its network of partners, the HOPE Consortium has handled more than 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, contributing to vaccination programmes in over 40 global destinations.

According to Nathan De Valck, head of cargo at Brussels Airport, Brussels Airport is the leading hub serving the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry in Europe with more than 750 million vaccines handled at the airport, serving 60 destinations worldwide.

The second declaration of collaboration was signed by the HOPE Consortium, Pharma.Aero, Khalifa University of Science and Technology and the University of Antwerp to host the second edition of the 'Pharma Logistics Masterclass' — a course focussing on critical challenges and developments in pharma supply chains and logistics, by Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi 5–9 September 2022.