Etihad Cargo has partnered with Validaide to leverage on its validation platform that provides info on the special handling capabilities of various logistics suppliers. The platform can be used to co-manage and co-share station facilities for pharmaceutical products and other special cargo with global customers.

The “premium membership” partnership will see Etihad Cargo join Validaide’s advisory board and extends the carrier’s digital reach to more than 500 logistics providers.

Validade’s platform allows customers to define, share and search cargo handling capabilities, which would put more visibility to the supply chain as airlines start transporting Covid-19 vaccines. In this case Validaide as the validation platform will show Etihad Cargo’s capabilities across its 70 labelled network stations.

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“In this constantly changing environment, the logistics industry needs to understand where capabilities lie and what constraints exist,” said Martin Drew, managing director for cargo and logistics.

He added that this will provide pharma exporters and shippers additional transparency on the airline’s station capabilities, including new SOP and Lane Risk Assessment features, and will reduce the time to collect and manage this information by 95 percent.

“The Validaide partnership provides additional digital capabilities to global pharma customers. Etihad Cargo can now extend the use of Validaide in various business processes by integrating station capabilities data into the corporate website and booking system,” added Drew.

Both active members of Pharma.Aero, both companies would agree the need for transparency as the Covid-19 vaccine roll out commences. Etihad Cargo recently launched a specialised pharma and healthcare service, PharmaLife, which can meet the extreme requirements of some vaccines that require deep-frozen storage below -70C.

“Transparency on transport and storage conditions is critical for distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, which require extensive industry collaboration and data sharing,” said Eelco de Jong, CEO at Validaide.

Etihad Cargo is part of a UAE-based public-private partnership, including the Department of Health, Abu Dhabi Ports Group, Rafed and SkyCell, in charge of handling more than six billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.