PHARMA:An important traffic generator for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

The need for information sharing in order to manage pharma and life science shipments throughout their transportation was one of the key conclusions of the Pharma Shippers’ Forum organised and co-hosted by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, as part of this year’s Air Cargo India event in Mumbai. The unprecedented gathering of 40 leading pharma shippers, together with representatives of logistics service providers, cargo handlers, airports, airlines and regulators uncovered many of the problems and concerns facing India’s multi-billion dollar pharma industry as it steps up its export drive. Among the many challenges mentioned were the danger of temperature excursions rendering medicines ineffective; the need to secure supply chains from counterfeit products; the lack of transparent pricing from forwarders; and the often extreme difference between climates at origin and destination. Also highlighted was the need for greater collaboration; the resistance to share information between supply chain partners; and the inability of some carriers to participate in the flow of information from forwarders. In an exclusive interview with ITLN, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s senior vice president Enno Osinga talks about how India’s pharmaceutical market is an important traffic generator for the airport. Excerpts.

How does Amsterdam Schiphol view India as an air cargo market? India is especially important with regards to the pharma market. India is a large and growing producer of pharmaceuticals, which are exported all over the world and require the special handling that only air cargo can provide. For Schiphol, with its ideal strategic position as a gateway to the African and Latin American, as well as the European markets, pharma is already a very important traffic generator, and will become more so in the future. What facilities can Amsterdam Schiphol offer to the air cargo companies flying into Amsterdam from India? Schiphol provides an open market both in terms of airline services and handling; this drives competitiveness both in service standards and price. Additionally, we have allowed forwarders to have their own direct airside access, so reducing transfer times and handling, which are essential elements in maintaining the constant temperatures that many pharma products require. The collective resources of the Schiphol logistics community for handling pharma are impressive by any standards. Pharma products need minimum transit times, quick transfers, and early alternative departures for occasions when shipments may have missed their intended flights; Schiphol offers all of these things. As a gateway for Europe or a transit point to other world markets, Schiphol provides an excellent choice of airlines, destinations and frequencies. And, as a gateway for the whole of Europe, Schiphol is very well positioned with fast road access (and later, rail too), to all major markets. The Netherlands is a very conducive business environment, with highly-supportive government and authorities that remove many of the obstacles encountered elsewhere.

What are your future plans to and from India to Amsterdam? We are actively and frequently in touch with the major life sciences companies in India. We facilitate close collaboration between them and all other professional parties in the logistics chain, via such forums as the Lifescience Logistics Steering Group which we formed, to ensure that we all fully understand the needs of the Indian manufacturers, and that Schiphol can provide joined-up solutions. It helps immensely that one of our dedicated cargo team spent many years as the head of pharma logistics for a leading global 3PL. We will continue with our current activities to ensure that, as the Indian pharma sector grows, our capabilities match its needs. What is the total payload you have from Amsterdam to India and back? This varies according to aircraft schedules, aircraft types, passenger and baggage loads, and how many freighters are additionally in operation. Cargo is transported on both passenger and freighter flights. Whilst the passenger schedules are pretty constant, and are sometimes the first choice of pharma shippers due to their inherent frequency and reliability, the freighter availability provides a flexible additional capacity that can cope quickly and effectively with spikes in demand. We are in constant touch both with shippers and airlines to ensure that the necessary level of capacity is always available to and from Amsterdam. How important is pharma business important from India into Schiphol? The main air cargo business between India and Schiphol is pharma, and it is both a significant proportion of all traffic, and very important to our airport. It is not only our main focus within our Indian traffic, but also one of the most important focuses anywhere in our overall global business. We devote a great deal of our time and resources to the Indian pharma sector through business trips and meetings, conference speaking engagements, attending exhibitions, and liaising with our own logistics community. 