Asiana Airlines, First Domestic Transport of Vaccine Finished Products... Russia's 'Sputnik V' Shipment

Domestic Contract Manufacturing and Transportation of Russian-Made Vaccines

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Asiana Airlines has transported finished COVID-19 vaccine products for the first time in Korea.

On the 29th at 10:20 a.m., Asiana Airlines transported finished COVID-19 vaccine products on cargo flight OZ795 departing from Incheon to Moscow, Russia. This is the second shipment since the first transport on the 25th.

The vaccine transported by Asiana Airlines is the Russian-developed "Sputnik V," produced under consignment by the Korean pharmaceutical company Korea Corus (a subsidiary of GL Pharm).

For this vaccine transport, Asiana Airlines formed a partnership with the consignor and agency from the early stages of transportation and provided consulting throughout the entire process from packaging to transport. Since Sputnik V requires storage and transport at minus 20 degrees Celsius, the company explained that special attention was paid to maintaining the cold chain throughout the entire transportation process, including the production factory, Incheon cargo terminal, aircraft, and Moscow cargo terminal.

Since September, Asiana Airlines has organized a vaccine task force (TF) composed of cargo transport specialists to prepare for COVID-19 vaccine transportation. Specifically, this included preparing transportation means through contracts with special container companies, reorganizing and expanding special warehouse facilities within the Incheon Airport cargo terminal, inspecting cold chain facilities at overseas branches, and coordinating with related agencies to apply for special permits for dry ice.

Asiana Airlines stated, "Through contracts with five special container companies, we have established a cold chain capable of ultra-low temperature (below minus 60 degrees), frozen (minus 20 degrees), and refrigerated (2 to 8 degrees Celsius) transport." They added, "With thorough preparation, we successfully completed the transport and demonstrated our vaccine transport capability. Based on this, once domestic vaccine introduction begins, we will do our best to deliver the vaccines safely to the public."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.