• Pharma airfreight faces a pivotal moment in 2025, shaped by three converging forces: sustainability demands, digitalisation, and a global shortage of skilled personnel.
• Sustainability is now a market-entry requirement, with reusable thermal containers, SAF-backed services like DHL’s GoGreen Plus, and solar-powered cold storage units setting new standards.
• Digitalisation is transforming visibility and control, through IoT sensors, AI-driven disruption management, and blockchain-enabled custody records, though smaller players risk falling behind.
• Talent shortages pose the greatest bottleneck, from data analysts in control towers to technicians for advanced packaging systems, with high turnover straining knowledge retention.
• Future competitiveness depends on integration — firms that align green practices, digital tools, and human expertise will set the benchmark for resilient, efficient, and responsible pharma logistics.

The pharmaceutical airfreight sector has become one of the most strategically important yet operationally complex components of global healthcare. Medicines, vaccines and advanced therapies must often move rapidly across borders in tightly controlled conditions, leaving air transport as the only viable mode. Yet three converging forces are reshaping the sector: the intensifying drive towards sustainability, the accelerating adoption of digital technologies, and an acute shortage of skilled personnel. Each of these forces carries both risk and opportunity and together they define the commercial reality of 2025.

The pharma airfreight industry is navigating a decisive period. Sustainability pressures demand innovation in packaging and energy use, while digitalisation promises unprecedented visibility and efficiency. Yet the shortage of skilled personnel threatens to slow progress on both fronts. The sector’s ability to thrive will rest on integrating these priorities into a coherent strategy – one that treats environmental responsibility, technological capability and human capital not as separate challenges but as interconnected levers of competitiveness. Those that succeed will set the benchmark for a resilient, efficient and responsible supply chain in the years ahead.

One area of change lies in packaging and containers. Traditional single-use solutions are increasingly unacceptable due to their environmental footprint. In response, carriers are adopting reusable passive thermal containers, such as those produced by Envirotainer, which are capable of maintaining precise temperature ranges over long distances. Not only do these reduce waste, but they also lower total cost of ownership over repeated use.

Similarly, DHL has launched its GoGreen Plus service, enabling customers to book air cargo shipments with a verified reduction in carbon emissions by using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). While more costly, such initiatives are becoming essential as pharmaceutical clients incorporate logistics emissions into their published ESG disclosures.

A further example can be found at Heathrow and Frankfurt airports, where operators are piloting solar-powered cold storage units. These facilities are designed to reduce reliance on grid electricity and serve as visible evidence of airports’ commitment to greener operations. For pharma firms, such infrastructure offers assurance that their sustainability targets can be met without jeopardising product integrity.

These developments underline a broader reality: sustainability has shifted from being a differentiator to becoming a condition of market entry. Logistics providers unable to credibly reduce their environmental impact risk being excluded from tenders by increasingly demanding pharma clients.

Acceleration of digitalisation

If sustainability represents the external pressure, digitalisation is the internal transformation reshaping pharmaceutical airfreight. Clients now demand real-time visibility of their consignments, given that even minor temperature excursions can compromise the efficacy of high-value therapies.

The sector is witnessing widespread deployment of IoT (Internet of Things) sensor technology, which monitors not only temperature but also humidity, vibration and light exposure. Data is transmitted continuously to centralised control towers, enabling proactive intervention if deviations occur. For example, Kuehne + Nagel’s PharmaChain platform offers 24/7 visibility and predictive alerts, significantly reducing spoilage rates and providing reassurance to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Artificial intelligence is also being harnessed for predictive routing and disruption management. UPS Healthcare, for instance, employs machine learning models to anticipate potential delays caused by weather or congestion and dynamically reroute shipments to minimise risk. Such systems deliver not only operational efficiency but also direct financial benefit, as fewer consignments are lost or written off.

Blockchain technology is another avenue of innovation. Emirates SkyCargo has piloted blockchain-enabled documentation to create tamper-proof records of custody for temperature-sensitive shipments. This supports compliance with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) regulations and offers clients a transparent audit trail – a valuable differentiator in a tightly regulated market.

However, digitalisation is not without its challenges. Integration across international supply chains remains uneven, with smaller freight forwarders struggling to match the investment levels of larger competitors. This creates a risk of fragmentation, where only a subset of providers can deliver the high levels of visibility now expected by pharmaceutical clients.

Talent shortages

Both sustainability initiatives and digital technologies ultimately depend on people. Here the industry faces its most significant bottleneck: a shortage of skilled talent. For example, managing a control tower equipped with IoT sensors requires staff who can interpret complex data, identify anomalies, and take corrective action in real time. Yet such analytical skills are in short supply.

Furthermore, the adoption of sustainable packaging technologies demands technicians trained to operate and maintain advanced refrigeration equipment. Ground handling agents must understand not only compliance requirements but also the intricacies of reusable container systems. Staff turnover at airport handling facilities, however, remains high, raising concerns over knowledge retention.

The talent shortage extends to software development and AI system design. DHL and other major integrators report difficulty recruiting data scientists and engineers capable of tailoring predictive algorithms for logistics applications. In some cases, these skills are being sourced from outside the traditional logistics sector, with companies partnering with technology firms to bridge capability gaps.

For senior leaders, the lesson is clear. Sustainability, digitalisation and talent cannot be treated as discrete priorities; they are interdependent. A provider investing in SAF-based airfreight must still ensure that its staff can accurately measure and report emissions reductions. A company deploying IoT monitoring must simultaneously train personnel capable of acting on the data. And without credible sustainability credentials, even the most advanced digital offering may fail to win pharmaceutical business.

The future of pharma airfreight will therefore belong to those firms that not only invest in technology and green infrastructure but also develop and retain the skilled workforce required to operate them. This means new recruitment strategies, industry-wide training initiatives, and stronger collaboration between logistics providers, technology companies and educational institutions.