The International Airlines Group’s (IAG’s) freight business, IAG Cargo, announced on Thursday that Cape Town had become its latest station to receive approval to handle the shipment of temperature- and time-sensitive healthcare products. These included bioscience and healthcare inputs and products, but especially pharmaceuticals (ranging from components to vaccines).

IAG Cargo called its dedicated pharmaceutical, and other healthcare products, transport network “Constant Climate”. Cape Town was the second Constant Climate station to be launched this year, following that in Cincinnati in the US in September. Cape Town also took the number of such stations in Africa to five, and the global total to more than 100, spread across six continents.

“Adding Cape Town to our Constant Climate is an exciting moment as it strengthens our cold chain offering, and shows our commitment to serving the pharmaceutical, bioscience and healthcare industries,” affirmed IAG Cargo Pharmaceutical head Jordan Kohlbeck. “For many customers this will support the increasing demand for transporting pharmaceuticals globally, specifically to the African market.”

During the first half of this year, Constant Climate saw a 45% increase in its global business, year-on-year. And in May, its new central facility, named New Premia and located at London’s Heathrow Airport, was opened.

New Premia covered 10 000 m2 and included a state-of-the-art Constant Climate Quality Centre, which, in turn, included 27 dedicated cool and cold cells and facilities. These covered the range from room temperature (+15° C to +25° C), to cold (+2° C to +8° C), to frozen (-20° C).

IAG Cargo was originally created in April 2011 by the merger of the cargo businesses of IAG’s then two subsidiary airlines, British Airways and Iberia. Since then, the group has also absorbed Aer Lingus, LEVEL and Vueling, and incorporated their cargo operations into IAG Cargo. The IAG group was one of the world’s biggest airline groups, and on December 31, 2022, it employed more than 2 250 people and operated 558 aircraft.