Nippon Cargo Airlines is the latest carrier to turn to the pharmaceutical and perishables sector to help ride out the volatile air cargo market. The Japanese all-cargo carrier has introduced a temperature-controlled service that targets primarily the health care and pharmaceutical industries utilising containers provided by Envirotainer.

The containers employ active dry ice-cooling technology and active electrical heating and compressor cooling technology to allow finer temperature calibration and the special ULDs can maintain temperatures between zero and 20 degrees Celsius for up to 100 hours. NCA is the latest in a string of airlines that have developed temperaturecontrolled products or honed existing offerings, including British Airways, Continental Airlines and Air Canada.