Cathay Pacific delivers first vaccine shipment to Hong Kong

• 1 m doses of Sinovac’s vaccine flown from Beijing to support city’s vaccination program

Cathay Pacific flew the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to Hong Kong on 25 February onboard Flight CX391 from Beijing as the airline continues to support the Hong Kong SAR Government’s vaccination program.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “This is an important milestone in Hong Kong’s fight against COVID-19 and we are immensely proud to be doing our part in this fight. It is a successful effort, which involves close collaboration with the Airport Authority of Hong Kong, and many of our industry partners and business associates. We stand ready to undertake future shipments using our vaccine solution product and support the Government in its community-wide roll out program.”

The one million doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines were loaded inside six temperature-controlled Envirotainer e2 RAP containers to maintain the vaccine temperature range of 2-8 degrees C. The shipments were loaded closest to the aircraft doors to allow for priority unloading and upon arrival the aircraft was parked at the South Apron closest to the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal at Hong Kong International Airport to reduce the towing time between the parking bay and the cargo terminal. 

Meticulous planning both within Cathay Pacific and with the shipper and forwarder in Beijing, as well as the consignee in Hong Kong, was critical to ensuring the utmost precision throughout the shipping process. 

As part of an airport-wide recertification of IATA’s CEIV Pharma accreditation (the internationally recognised quality-assurance scheme for pharmaceutical shipments) at Hong Kong International Airport, Cathay Pacific Cargo, Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal and ground-handling subsidiary Hong Kong Airport Services (HAS) have all been re-certified. This offers a complete level of quality assurance at every stage of the import and transshipment journey.