Lufthansa Cargo adds pharma storage facility in Munich

Lufthansa Cargo's cold storage pharma facility at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. (Photo: Lufthansa Cargo)

Lufthansa Airlines’ cargo division has opened a specialized storage section for temperature-sensitive medicines, biologic drugs and blood at its Munich Airport warehouse.

The new pharmaceutical hub can hold 96 pallets plus loose pieces in two temperature ranges (35-46 degrees F and 59-77 F) — with a freezer that can reach minus 64 F, Lufthansa Cargo said Thursday.

Ensuring pharmaceutical supplies maintain their quality during transport is a top priority for drug companies, hospitals and laboratories. Handling those products is a premium business for airlines.

Lufthansa Cargo (CXE: LHA) expects the International Air Transport Association to certify the Munich facility this fall for meeting strict pharmaceutical handling criteria.

The Munich facility, which was built in five months, follows the June opening of a Lufthansa pharma center at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. It can hold up to 54 pallets and 102 cool containers, according to the company.

Most of Lufthansa Cargo’s pharmaceutical shipments move through its main hub in Frankfurt, Germany, which was expanded to 86,000 square feet in 2018. By the end of 2020, Lufthansa Cargo expects to have 31 pharma stations worldwide certified under IATA’s validation program.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Parcel and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com