Korean Air Charter Flight Departs for Pfizer Vaccine Transport

At the Korean Air cargo terminal of Incheon International Airport, the cargo plane appears to be smiling brightly. In the New Year of the Year of the Ox, we hope that the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will disappear and the skies will open. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Korean Air's aircraft transporting Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, introduced for the first time in Korea, departed for the Netherlands on the morning of the 25th.

According to the aviation industry and quarantine authorities, Korean Air flight KE9925 took off from Incheon International Airport at 11:05 a.m. and headed to Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport in the Netherlands.

Unlike Korean Air's usual three-digit flight numbers, the addition of the number '9' at the front, which indicates a charter flight, suggests that a charter plane was deployed for the rapid transport of the vaccine.

In fact, Korean Air flight KE9925 is scheduled to arrive at Schiphol Airport at 3:30 p.m. (local time) on the same day, immediately load the Pfizer vaccine, and take off at 5:30 p.m. The expected arrival time at Incheon International Airport is 12:10 p.m. on the following day, the 26th.

Korean Air is using the Airbus medium-to-large passenger aircraft A330-300. Approximately 660 kg of Pfizer vaccine, equivalent to 58,500 doses (two shots per person, 117,000 doses total), will be transported in the passenger aircraft's cargo hold at an ultra-low temperature of minus 75 degrees Celsius.

Korean Air has secured about 14,000 special "temperature-controlled containers" to maintain the ultra-low temperature. This allows for cold storage for up to 168 hours.

To transport the vaccine, Korean Air formed a special cargo transport expert "COVID-19 Vaccine Transport Task Force (TF)" in September last year and has been conducting confidential simulation transport training together with Incheon Airport and quarantine authorities. It also obtained the international standard "CEIV Pharma" certification for pharmaceutical transport from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Before the transport, on the 3rd, a joint COVID-19 vaccine simulation training was completed at Korean Air's 2nd Cargo Terminal at Incheon International Airport under the supervision of President Moon Jae-in.

An aviation industry official said, "Korean Air has accumulated a lot of know-how in transporting pharmaceuticals, including transporting a cumulative 10,000 tons of diagnostic kits," adding, "We expect the domestic transport to proceed safely as thorough preparations have been made for this COVID-19 vaccine transport."

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