Rome, 15 November 2019 – Alitalia has received for the first time the CEIV Pharma (Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics) certification from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
This is the main international certificate attesting that the Italian airline complies with the highest standards of transport for pharmaceutical products. The certification was issued also to the airline’s ground handling in Rome Fiumicino, which oversees the loading and unloading of medicines from aircraft, one of the ground assistance activities carried out for both Alitalia and other airlines flights at Rome’s airport.
The three-year certification, introduced by the IATA with the aim to meet consistent standards in the global air transport of medicines, is a further confirmation of the commitment and attention implemented by Alitalia to guarantee the highest level of safety and efficiency in the transport of pharmaceutical products, ensuring their integrity and preventing any logistical problem throughout the transportation chain. The process to obtain this important international recognition was complex and involved various business areas so that the procedures for transporting medicines on Alitalia aircraft are now compliant with international regulations and guidelines established by pharmaceutical companies.
"Italy is the leading manufacturer of drugs in Europe and the CEIV Pharma certification received from the IATA will therefore allow us to better compete in a highly specialized sector such as the transport of pharmaceutical products in aircraft bellies. For Alitalia, this result gives further value to the decision to return to manage directly the commercial activities related to the cargo sector, that allowed us to re-launch the Alitalia Cargo brand and improve the profitability of such an important business in air transport," said Fabio Maria Lazzerini, Chief Business Officer at Alitalia. "This significant recognition issued by the IATA will drive us to make further investments in staff training and improvement of processes to ensure an increasingly efficient and safe transport of pharmaceutical products."
