First flights with COVID vaccines worldwide from Brussels Airport successfully completed

The first flights with COVID vaccines from Brussels Airport have been carried out successfully. Since the end of November, 7 flights have already been carried out to further distribute the COVID vaccine from our country. The very first flight with COVID vaccines worldwide departed from Brussels Airport on 27 November.

"After months of preparation together with our cargo partners in the Taskforce BRUcure, we are proud to report that the first flights with COVID vaccines worldwide went very smoothly. Brussels Airport has many years of expertise in the transport of temperature-sensitive products and we are pleased to make our contribution to the solution to this global health crisis. As a global pharma platform, we are ready to shift up a gear, as vaccine volumes will gradually increase in the coming weeks and months," says Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport.

So far, seven flights with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have been operated via Brussels Airport, in cooperation with United Airlines, Expeditors, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Express. The very first flight with COVID vaccines worldwide departed from Brussels Airport on 27 November. All of these shipments were carried from the warehouse to the aircraft by our Airside Pharma Transporters so as to guarantee a constant temperature during the transfer

In the course of the months ahead, a growing number of vaccines will pass through Brussels Airport, carried by DHL Express as well as other commercial flights, and a growing number of logistics partners at Brussels Airport’s cargo hub will be involved in their shipment.

This will not only be the case for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, but also for the vaccines that are manufactured by other pharmaceutical companies, for export and import. The number of destinations is expected to grow sharply, as will demand. An opportunity for Brussels Airport to make its expertise as a pharmaceutical hub fully available in this huge logistical challenge and to further strengthen its position as key player in the air freight transport.