Bangkok Flight Services (BFS), the joint venture between Bangkok Airways and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and a member of the SATS Group, has achieved Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certification for its pharma facility at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
The award takes the number of GDP or IATA CEIV Pharma certified facilities available to WFS customers globally to 27, with two further locations in North America aiming for certification later in 2024. WFS, and other SATS subsidiaries now operate certified pharma handling facilities in locations including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bangalore, Beijing, Brussels, Dallas Fort Worth, Dublin, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, London Heathrow and Gatwick, Miami, Mumbai, New York JFK, Paris CDG and Philadelphia.
BFS managing director, Stewart Sinclair, said: “BFS, WFS and SATS have a shared commitment to ensuring the safe and secure handling of temperature-controlled, life-enhancing pharma cargoes. This is evident by our investments in best-in-class pharma centres in Europe, Scandinavia, North America, the Middle East, India and Asia, and more certified facilities will join this network in 2024. These operations are vital to maintaining the integrity and compliance of pharma shipments as well as to supporting premium and special cargo products offered by our customers.”
BFS received its GDP certification from independent audit body Escem/TüV Rheinland following a stringent two-day assessment of the facility by Global Pharma Solutions.
The facility consists of three zones offering 120sq m (1292sq ft) of capacity including over 215 storage positions with temperature ranges of 15-25°C and 2-8°C. There are also charging stations for active cargo containers.
In 2024, BFS is investing to increase the capacity of its pharma storage to support growing customer volumes. Over 20 of the 80 airlines handled by BFS in Bangkok now regularly ship pharma cargoes.