TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Garuda Indonesia Group on Wednesday announced that it is ready to help distribute the Covid-19 vaccines across the country’s most remote regions even if they have to make special flights to carry large quantity payloads.

“We have commenced several preparations apart from the transportations that will be carried to several routes we have. We will train cabin crews how to handle the cargo,” wrote Garuda Indonesia president Irfan Setiaputra on December 16.

Irfan revealed that the distribution of pharmaceutical products presents its own challenges due to the strict standards and protocols that need to be followed. Aspects such as cargo handling safety and security, hygiene protocol application, and time accuracy upon transporting the cargo are crucial in the distribution chain.

The state-owned air carrier has just obtained the pharmaceutical certificate that qualifies them to transport the critical payload to help the country recover from the nearly year-long pandemic. Garuda also projects pharmaceutical cargo as a ‘promising market share’ for the future.

This would not be the first time Garuda Indonesia carried an important payload as the firm helped transport the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine from China to Indonesia via Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang.

Read: Garuda Passengers Bound for Bali Required to Carry Swab Test Results

ANTARA