Cathay Cargo has handled and flown its 50 millionth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, playing its central part in tackling the global pandemic.

The airline has used its network strength to fly vaccine shipments from the world’s principal manufacturing centres to a range of destinations worldwide. These have included Bangladesh, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Guyana and the Philippines. Some of these destinations were served through close work with interline airline partners.

Cathay Cargo started working on the handling and logistics of shipping the life-saving vaccines last summer. This work led to the creation of the bespoke Vaccine Solution, underpinned by Cathay Cargo’s new multi-dimensional tracking solution Ultra Track, which has been used to monitor all the shipments to date. George Edmunds, GM Cargo Commercial said: ‘This has been a major collaborative effort across the business and with our supplier partners. It’s been wonderful to see this all work come to fruition.’

As well as global distribution, Cathay Cargo has also flown in the bulk of the vaccines for use in its home hub. Edmunds added: ‘We are very proud to have played the major role in importing vaccines to Hong Kong and it was fitting that our 50 millionth dose was flown from Frankfurt to Hong Kong. These imports pave the way for the long awaited return to normality in our home port.’

‘We need to achieve high vaccination rates as this will be the key to unlocking international borders and for us to return to normal levels of flying. I am pleased that our own staff have taken the lead on this: our “Arm Up” campaign has seen 99 per cent of our pilots and 91 per cent  of our cabin crew fully vaccinated. Equally, we are very proud of the global role we are playing in distributing vaccines to developing countries through the COVAX initiative.’

As well as tackling the pandemic, the shipment of vaccines has stimulated further improvements in the quality and capacity for pharmaceutical shipments. In addition to the Vaccine Solution, Cathay Pacific Services Ltd is investing in new cool rooms and smart mobile cold boxes at the Cathay Cargo Terminal.