To support the citizens of the country, Cathay Pacific Cargo on 24 July, 2021, delivered approximately 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on-board the airline’s Boeing 747scheduled freighter - CX049. While the shipment was transported from Narita to Dhaka via Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific carried the shipment from Hong Kong to Bangladesh only.

“The citizens of Bangladesh have been deeply impacted with the on-going pandemic. We sympathize with the people of Bangladesh and stand ready to play our part in assisting them during such difficult times.” said Ahmed Reza, Cathay Pacific Airways’ Country Manager Bangladesh & Bhutan.

“We understand the nuances and expertise needed to transport such essential vaccines. Building on our pharmaceutical experience and quality assurances, we have developed a bespoke Vaccine Solution that enables us to contribute to the vital mission of carrying vaccine shipments around the world.”

Cathay Pacific Cargo being the third-largest freight carrier in the world, created a dedicated Vaccine Solution, bringing together two of the airline’s existing cargo products: Pharma LIFT - a renowned temperature-controlled and specialist pharma handling product, and Priority LIFT - an express product which offers ‘flown as booked’ priority upload. Additionally, the airline also introduced Ultra Track, a next-generation track-and-trace system, enabling shipments to be monitored in real-time. Furthermore, Cathay Pacific, along with its subsidiaries Cathay Pacific Service Limited and Hong Kong Airport Service Limited, have received airport-wide recertification of IATA’s CEIV Pharma accreditation at Hong Kong International Airport, thus offering a complete level of quality assurance at every stage of the transhipment journey.

Cathay Pacific Cargo continues to be on the frontline of distributing COVID-19 vaccines, globally.  With an expansive freighter network and the airline’s swift ability to deploy ad-hoc charters and Cargo-only-Passenger flights, Cathay Pacific Cargo is transporting essential humanitarian aid and medical supplies, and continues to do so in the coming months.