Vienna Airport becomes Central European hub for pharmaceuticals

The new Vienna Pharma Handling Center (VPHC) is part of the Air Cargo Center and accessible both, from the road and from the apron. There are two separate temperature zones in the warehouse, a 1,500 m² area for handling pharmaceuticals from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius and a 153 m² cold storage from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. This facility is exclusively for the handling of pharmaceutical products. Vienna Airport invested around EUR 1.8 million into the construction of the warehouse.

With the new Vienna Pharma Handling Center, Vienna International Airport is positioning itself as a significant pharma hub in Central Europe, enabling the rapid transport of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals within one and a half days of travel to 23 countries. In the pharmaceutical industry in particular, the exact observance of certain temperatures and rapid availability of medicines is of atmost importance. Accordingly high and restrictive requirements apply for adequate handling.

With the opening of the Vienna Pharma Handling Center, Vienna International Airport is specialising in a niche with promising growth prospects. “Since the opening of the east in 1989, freight traffic at the Vienna Airport has increased fivefold, and the transport of medical products is a growth market. With the new Pharma Handling Center we are the only airport in Central Europe to offer an end-to-end solution – with integrated cold chain, fast handling processes and short handling times between air, road and rail. In the future, 23 countries will be supplied with medicines within one and a half days via Vienna’s pharma hub, and 15 countries oth them within 24 hours of driving time,” said Julian Jäger, CEO of Flughafen Wien AG at the opening of the Vienna Pharma Handling Center on Tuesday.

www.viennaairport.com/pharmahandling, www.viennaairport.com