Distribution of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus will depend heavily on airfreight – a sector that has been under tremendous pressure in recent months due to a lack of capacity in the market. According to Glyn Hughes, global head of cargo for the International Air Transport Association (Iata), the co-dependence of airfreight on the passenger sector has been highlighted throughout the pandemic which has seen air cargo capacity plunge by more than 40% while most of the commercial passenger fleets have been grounded due to travel restrictions.
“Whilst freight f leet utilisation increased dramatically to the extent that parked and retired aircraft were brought back into the system, it still could not satisfy the demand,” he said.This led to several airlines dedicating their parked passenger aircraft for cargo use, with cargo stored in the overhead bins, under the seats and even strapped to seats.
“This pandemic has shown how vital a role the passenger aviation industry is in moving cargo and that it is vital we ensure airlines survive this crisis as this is a critical form of distributing emergency medical supplies around the world.”
Hughes said discussions were under way on various levels with governments and health organisations as to how a vaccine for Covid-19 would be distributed once it had been developed.“Of course this will be dependent on many variables that are still very uncertain at present – including where the vaccine will be developed and manufactured.”
As an example, Hughes said should the vaccine be manufactured in a central location and then be distributed to six billion people, a total of 8000 747-type aircraft would be required for the distribution.“That amount of aircraft doesn’t exist. It is therefore critical that we start working on distribution plans now to ensure we are ready to move these vaccinations once they are available.”
He said governments were being advised to work with supply chain parties in their regions to know what their capacity was.“Covid-19 has touched everywhere, but countries have all responded differently. We believe the distribution of any vaccine will have to be airfreighted,” said Hughes. “The world needs to plan now how they are going to get these vaccines and distribute them to remote and difficult-to-reach areas, where they will store them – and how they are going to handle local distribution networks.”
He said at present production in Africa, Latin America and one or two other regions was not feasible as they did not seem to have the necessary production infrastructure.“Ensuring the aviation industry is healthy in these regions is critically important if one takes into account that f lying might very well be the only way to reach some of the places where the vaccine has to be distributed.