NEW DELHI, Jan 4: With Hyderabad contributing the biggest share in India becoming the largest vaccine producer in the world, the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited and GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dubai Airports for building an exclusive Vaccine Air Freight Corridor Product called HYDXB-VAXCOR (Hyderabad to Dubai global Vaccine Corridor).
The MoU was signed in the backdrop of Hyderabad becoming a hub for Covid-19 vaccine and other antidotes with several vaccine manufacturers having their bases in the city.
The MoU was signed by Pradeep Panicker, CEO-GMRHIA, Saurabh Kumar, CEO-GMRHAC and Eugene Barry, EVP-Commercial, Dubai Airports Corporation in a virtual ceremony.
As per the MoU, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, and Dubai Airports will be according priority to the temperature sensitive vaccine shipments moving between both the airports for further connections to various continents as part of the “HYDXB-VAXCOR” and build this service offering as a key differentiator and value proposition for the vaccine customers and logistics stakeholders, a spokesman for the GMR said.
This agreement will lead to the rollout of customised and simplified processes and infrastructural support to streamline the journey of Covid-19 vaccine right from the manufacturing unit to the airport and hub logistics to delivery to end-customers, the spokesman said.
The partnership also entails technology collaboration, under which the entities will explore and work together on an integrated IT solution that will provide end-to-end visibility including shipment temperature and status tracking for the customers while cargo is in transit between Hyderabad and Dubai and during its onwards journey to various global destinations.
Talking about the need for meticulous planning in the transportation of vaccines in the current global context, Panicker said “We are also significantly upgrading our handling capacities for Covid-19 Vaccine shipments requiring Cold to ultra-cold temperature ranges and becoming India’s largest Air Cargo centre both for Export/Imports and Domestic distribution of the Vaccine.”
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said a major surge in demand for the efficient, safe and reliable global distribution of high volumes of Covid-19 vaccines is expected in the coming months. “As the world’s preeminent hub of choice, we wanted to be ready to respond to and accommodate that demand. Our partnership with GMR-Hyderabad is timed perfectly just as the global race to develop the vaccines enters the final stage.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
