WFS to open new Pharma Center at CDG

Ground handler and airport service provider Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) announced today it will invest €10 million (US$11.06 million) to open a new Pharma Center on site at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG).  

The 2,400-square-meter Pharma Center will offer both landside and airside acceptance capabilities and will have its own docks and maneuvering area for loading and unloading pharma shipments. It will be the only pharmaceutical-dedicated facility owned by a ground handler at CDG, according to WFS. 

As for cool-storage, the facility includes a number of temperature-controlled areas, including: 

• A dedicated room for loose cargo storage at +15-+25°C with a capacity for 108 euro-pallets on four levels of racking.  

• A dedicated cold room for loose cargo storage at +2-+8°C with the capacity to store 47 euro-pallets on the ground, and with additional racking also available.  
• A small freezing room for loose cargo storage at -20°C capable of handling nine euro-pallets at a time.  
• Two temperature-controlled areas for +2 to +25°C for cargo unit load devices with a combined capacity to store 53 P2P or 106 AKE pallets. 

WFS’ new facility will be GDP-complaint upon opening, and is expected to become IATA CEIV Pharma certified at a later point. 

“Pharmaceuticals continue to be one of the fastest–growing air cargo products and our airline customers have responded to this opportunity with dedicated products and services to meet this demand,” WFS Vice President cargo France Hugo Rodrigues said. “At a major air cargo gateway like Paris CDG, we believe it is incumbent on ground handlers to invest in the right equipment to handle pharma products,” he continued. 

The company is also investing in a new digital warehouse management system (WMS) that will support the use of barcode scanning for real-time storage capacity monitoring and management. The system will ensure constant and on-demand tracking of shipments between the Pharma Center and aircraft. The cloud platform will also record temperature and humidity data in real time via sensors in the facilities that can be accessed and viewed on mobile devices. 

This latest development expands on WFS’ recent expansion of pharmaceutical capabilities across its network with the opening of facilities in Copenhagen, Johannesburg and Miami.