Virgin Atlantic Cargo gains pharma authorization at Heathrow

Virgin Atlantic Cargo received a wholesale distribution authorization (WDA) from the United Kingdom’s government for the carrier’s global headquarters operations and its new “Pharma Zone” at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR).

The WDA designation was developed by the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), alongside the European regulator for medicines, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s handling partner, dnata, earlier gained Good Distribution Practices (GDP) certification for its U.K. operations, and WDA for its Cargo Point operation at Heathrow, which includes the Pharma Zone, shared by Virgin Atlantic and its joint-venture partner in the Pharma Zone, Delta Cargo.

The Pharma Zone at LHR includes walk-in pods for loose pharma shipments, along with six chambers for pallet storage and AC charging points for active containers. Alongside CSafe’s new RAP container, which Virgin Atlantic Cargo began offering in January, its other temperature-controlled pharma offerings include CSafe’s RKN unit and Envirotainer’s RKN t2, RAP t2, RKN e1 and RAP e2 units.

Virgin Atlantic entered the pharma air cargo business in 2016 and opted to forego IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification in favor of the WDA, which aligns instead with GDP for pharmaceutical handling.