Pharma Portal Europe – Air Cargo Week
- Brussels Airport is emerging as a global hub for advanced pharmaceutical logistics, aligning infrastructure and expertise with the emergence of precision medicines that require ultra-cold storage, real-time control, and collaboration between manufacturers and logistics providers.
- Efficiency and reliability drive innovation, from digital control towers and real-time tracking to specialized handling facilities specifically designed for patient-specific treatments, ensuring speed and safety for temperature-sensitive shipments.
- Air Cargo Belgium promotes cross-border collaboration and knowledge sharing between stakeholders and European cargo hubs, uniting the community around patient-focused logistics, regulatory harmonization, and seamless movement of next-generation therapeutics.
Brussels Airport is rapidly establishing itself as an important gateway for the transport of advanced pharmaceutical treatments. The city’s strategic location, coupled with a dense network of pharmaceutical manufacturers, has placed it at the forefront of precision medicine logistics. As patient-specific treatments become more common and technology advances, the region’s air cargo capabilities are evolving to meet the demands of this niche market.
From vaccines that require controlled temperatures to experimental treatments that require ultra-cold storage, the emergence of advanced medicines has created a new challenge: how to transport these products efficiently, safely and reliably. For the air cargo operator community and stakeholders in Belgium, this rapid development in pharmaceuticals represents both an opportunity and a responsibility. “We see that there is a small gap between the pharmaceutical industry and knowing what is actually happening in this sector, and this is actually the gap that we aim to fill,” explained Freek de Wit, Director of Air Cargo Belgium. “We make sure we pass on some of this knowledge to others, so they can invest at the right time.”
“Investment in facilities and operations must match the arrival of new treatments to avoid wastage of resources and maintain quality.. “Some people were asking me earlier, well, why wasn’t the infrastructure ready yet? I said, because the product is not ready yet. These treatments will come within two or three years. “It doesn’t make sense to actually build infrastructure and operations that will be ready now.”
Cold chain logistics, a critical component of air shipping of pharmaceuticals, has become increasingly complex. The Belgian community is therefore actively working with manufacturers to develop packaging and procedures that reduce risks and maintain effectiveness. “Precision therapies is a broad concept,” De Wit said. “Some of them will require extreme negative temperatures, but some may not be temperature sensitive at all. What we’re also seeing now is that for those products that need, for example, extreme negative temperatures, manufacturers are looking at alternatives to making them that way or refurbishing them in a way that makes the temperature requirements lower.”
Speed and efficiency
Rapid turnaround is critical for treatments with a short shelf life, especially patient-specific ones. De Witte explains that efficiency improvements occur in both software and hardware. “When it comes to software, we look at control tower concepts… specifically designed for precision treatments. Then the other side, of course, is the hardware: handling facilities. Should we have a dedicated handling facility? Should there be dedicated spaces within the existing handling facilities in Brussels? These are the things we are looking at to make sure we have tailored solutions.”
Digitization is another key enabler. Real-time tracking and integrated platforms can dramatically improve visibility, security, and efficiency. By adopting new systems, the Belgian air cargo community aims to reduce delays and increase the reliability of transporting sensitive treatments. “In general, if you look at the technological development over the past years, when it comes to slot booking and landside tracking, that is fairly well maintained, but the handling facilities are a bit of a black box,” De Wit said.
Patient-centeredness also influences operational decisions. In cooperation with universities and hospitals, the community is exploring models where patients receive treatment efficiently, bypassing complex logistical chains entirely. “One of the concepts we are thinking about is, for example, going the last mile by bringing the patient to the airport and making sure there is a medical facility, maybe not a full medical facility, but where treatment can be provided to the patient,” De Wit explained.
Sharing knowledge across borders
By creating a unified forum, Air Cargo Belgium ensures that all stakeholders understand the unique requirements of advanced treatments, from regulatory compliance to handling protocol procedures. “Normally a freight forwarder talks with his airline and then with the freight forwarder on the other side. But most of the time these discussions are separate. We try to get everyone together at the same big table,” De Wit said.
Belgium is also looking beyond its borders. De Witte stresses the importance of learning from other European shipping hubs. “We strive to collaborate with other cargo communities at other airports because we see that they learn faster, more quickly, in certain aspects. That’s why we want to exchange – because bringing all of these together will help us grow as European airports.”
