“Air cargo is the invisible but vital lifeline in oncology treatment access. Behind every vial, there is an ecosystem of precision and timing.”

Yulia Celetaria, Global Director Pharma at Healthc’Air, speaks quietly but with conviction. Her words capture a truth that’s often overlooked: while awareness campaigns fill the public sphere every October, the logistics networks enabling global access to cancer treatments remain largely unseen.

Each consignment of breast-cancer therapy represents far more than a shipment. It’s a patient’s next round of treatment, a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s pledge of quality, and the industry’s silent promise that timing and temperature will never be compromised. This is where air cargo’s humanitarian dimension becomes unmistakable – a discipline that merges operational precision with empathy.

The last-mile risk: where seconds and degrees matter

According to Alex Guillen, Global SME Life Science and Pharma at Tive, the greatest vulnerability for oncology therapies occurs in the final stage of distribution.
“The greatest risk of temperature excursions occurs during the last mile of delivery — especially for finished drug products shipped at 2–8 °C or controlled room temperature,” he explained. “This stage often involves local distribution or direct-to-patient delivery, where maintaining strict environmental control becomes more difficult.”

Newer cancer therapies frequently demand ultra-cold conditions, from −40 °C down to cryogenic −196 °C. For such treatments, the danger spans the entire supply chain. “Each hand-off or delay increases the chance of a deviation,” Guillen said.

For Tive, the solution lies in continuous visibility. “Our trackers deliver real-time visibility and instant alerts when a temperature deviation, delay, or shock event occurs — so teams can intervene immediately to protect the shipment,” he said. The company’s Managed Monitoring Services now oversees critical pharma shipments around the clock, intervening before product integrity is compromised.

Every successful save translates directly to a patient outcome. Guillen pointed to Biocair, a specialist logistics provider, as an example: using Tive’s dry-ice probes, Biocair tracks location and temperature continuously, allowing early corrective action. “Each intervention represents a patient receiving their treatment on time — proof that real-time monitoring directly translates to better health outcomes,” he added.

As more therapies move closer to the patient, the pressure on logistics intensifies. “The expansion of at-home healthcare is reshaping the cold chain from centralised distribution to direct-to-patient delivery,” Guillen noted. “Every step outside controlled facilities introduces greater risk, making precise monitoring and coordinated logistics essential.”

Airlines, he added, make that shift possible by extending networks to secondary airports and regional hubs, “reducing exposure time and ensuring therapies arrive safe, effective, and ready for use.”

Connecting care: the GSA coordination layer

For Aytekin Saray, CEO of Global GSA Group, the challenge is not only technical but systemic. Oncology shipments move through multiple actors – forwarders, handlers, airlines, and regulators – and any misalignment can threaten integrity.

“Our teams know they are not just handling freight – they are managing critical treatments for people waiting in hospitals or at home,” Saray said.

Global GSA Group handles oncology and other life-science consignments for numerous airline partners worldwide. The company’s collaboration with Healthc’Air reinforces those capabilities through harmonised standard operating procedures, proactive monitoring, and contingency planning.

Saray points out that much of the industry’s risk arises from inconsistency. “Infrastructure, regulatory interpretation, and the availability of trained personnel vary across regions,” he said. “That’s where GSAs can make a difference — by anticipating problems, optimising routing, and coordinating with partners before deviations occur.”

Transitions between handlers or transport modes are the weakest links. GSAs, he added, act as the chain’s stabilisers: ensuring validated capacity, quick transfer to temperature-controlled zones, and clear communication between all parties.

On the ground: precision handling and responsibility

At Swissport, pharmaceuticals are not a niche commodity but the backbone of major operations. “Pharmaceuticals and life sciences air cargo are at the core of our pharma warehouses, for example in Basel, Switzerland. Around sixty-five percent of their export volumes are pharmaceutical products,” said Dirk Goovaerts, the company’s CEO Continental Europe, Middle East, Africa and India and Global Cargo Chair.

Swissport’s 23 certified pharma centres – including hubs in Basel, Brussels, Amsterdam, Nairobi, and Tokyo Narita – are designed around traceability and temperature control. Facilities feature multiple temperature zones (+15 °C to +25 °C, +2 °C to +8 °C, and −20 °C) and continuous environmental monitoring.

“The main risk is temperature deviation,” Goovaerts said. “We mitigate this through full traceability of each handling step and continuous temperature monitoring of all storage areas.”

Swissport’s Cool+Connect corridor, launched in Basel in 2024, allows pre-conditioned loading at +2 °C to +8 °C, cutting the need for truck transfers between warehouse and aircraft. “The facility reduces additional truck movements, cutting CO₂ emissions while improving temperature stability,” he said.

Visibility is also key. Customers receive automated updates through Swissport’s CiQ platform and are notified instantly if any temperature deviation occurs. Yet Goovaerts believes that culture matters as much as technology. “All cargo employees receive regular pharma-handling training. Our Just Culture helps teams understand that every shipment may represent a life-saving treatment.”

Future investments target Liège and Chicago, expanding Swissport’s capability for ultra-low-temperature handling (−60 °C and below) as demand for gene-therapy logistics accelerates.

Airlines at the centre of oncology logistics

For Lufthansa Cargo, life sciences and pharma logistics are not a seasonal focus but a strategic pillar. “Life sciences and pharma form a strategic pillar of Lufthansa Cargo’s business and represent one of its steadily growing segments,” said Urte Wirtz, Head of Global Sales & Product Management at Lufthansa Cargo.

Each year, the carrier handles large volumes of vaccines, diagnostics, and oncology medicines across its worldwide network of more than 230 pharma stations – 30 CEIV Pharma-certified and six GDP-accredited.

One recent operation illustrates the precision required. “A leading breast cancer treatment is regularly transported from Dublin to Tokyo under Active Temp Control conditions, first on an Airbus A321F to Frankfurt, then on a Boeing 777F to Narita,” the airline noted. Both legs use Envirotainer units under constant supervision by Lufthansa’s Pharma Control Tower.

“Ensuring the integrity of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals during air transport requires precise coordination across all handling stages,” said Wirtz.

Lufthansa Cargo addresses these challenges through clearly defined processes, certified infrastructure, and continuous innovation, both for actively temperature-controlled and passively temperature-supported shipments.The carrier employs pre-conditioned storage, Thermo Covers, an Exposure Time Calculator, and sensor-enabled ULDs that transmit live data.

The company’s LCCevo modernisation project – a €600 million investment due for completion by 2030 – will turn Frankfurt into one of Europe’s most advanced pharma logistics hubs, fully integrated with smart monitoring and automation.

Beyond technology, Wirtz highlights its role in extending access. “Through Brussels Airlines’ strong network in Africa, Lufthansa Cargo connects pharmaceutical manufacturers with remote regions, helping ensure that essential treatments reach patients who depend on them.”

Resilience remains central. “Recent months have once again demonstrated how essential flexibility and transparency are for maintaining reliable pharma logistics,” the airline added.

Sustainability sits alongside that reliability. “For Lufthansa Cargo, climate protection and product integrity go hand in hand.” The carrier advances efficiency and sustainability through fleet and facility modernization, certified environmental management, and the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, all contributing to its long-term goal of climate-neutral operations.

Looking forward, Wirtz predicts growing demand for rapid, temperature-sensitive transport of advanced therapies. “By 2030, air cargo will remain indispensable for the global availability of advanced cancer therapies,” the airline said.

Bridging access and awareness

Healthc’Air sits at the intersection of technology, compliance, and compassion. For Yulia Celetaria, every operational standard begins with empathy. “Air transport can only be as strong as the weakest link in the chain,” she said. “That is why at Healthc’Air we focus on building intelligent air-pharma corridors — connecting validated stations with trained partners and harmonised SOPs.”

Such corridors support more than finished drugs. “Air cargo underpins every phase of healthcare — from biological samples for genomic testing to investigational drugs and diagnostic reagents,” she explained.

Healthc’Air’s philosophy, “from aircraft to vial”, reflects a shift towards fully connected logistics — one where data visibility and human responsibility move in tandem. “Each oncology shipment is far more than temperature data and transit milestones — it’s someone’s chance to continue treatment, to live.”

Celetaria views awareness initiatives as more than symbolic. “People move pharma, not systems — and awareness, especially during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, reminds us that behind every box is a person with hope.”

Predictive supply chains and human focus

For Guillen at Tive, the next transformation will depend on intelligence rather than reaction. “The next wave of reliability will come from predictive, not reactive, cold-chain management,” he said.

Real-time IoT sensors will remain essential, but their value will deepen as AI analyses millions of data points to forecast risk patterns and automate interventions. “These innovations will help keep pharmaceuticals safe and ensure every patient receives their treatment as intended.”

Across the ecosystem — from Lufthansa’s digital pharma map to Swissport’s real-time handling data, from GSAs’ network oversight to Healthc’Air’s corridor validation — the same shift is under way: transforming air cargo from a mode of transport into a web of proactive care.

Oncology logistics is no longer a hidden discipline. Every innovation in monitoring, infrastructure, and collaboration represents a thread in a larger fabric that holds together global access to treatment.

The stakes are measured not in tonnes but in lives: the mother awaiting her next dose, the researcher whose trial shipment arrives intact, the hospital technician whose storage data confirm stability.

As the industry marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, its quietest work may also be its most impactful –  ensuring that every vial entrusted to air cargo arrives safely, cold, and full of hope.