Envirotainer and Unilode Aviation Solutions have extended their existing partnership to assist with the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.

Envirotainer offers secure cold chain solutions for air transport of pharmaceuticals, and has increased its active temperature-controlled container capacity at several key locations around the world.

Unilode provides outsourced unit load device (ULD) management and repair solutions. It has worked with Envirotainer since 2013 for the repair, maintenance, handling, transportation and storage of temperature-controlled active air freight containers at 24 locations.

The latest joint service innovation is the development of pop-up ground handling and repair shops, the companies said. These will be implemented, at short notice, for large volume Covid-19 vaccine distributions, closer to pharmaceutical production hubs. The aim is to ensure the fast and safe delivery of vaccines across the world.

Envirotainer COO Niklas Adamsson said: “Especially in these times our partnership is very important for our operations as it enables Envirotainer to support the upcoming unprecedented global demand of vaccine distribution with our cold chain solutions.

“Unilode is increasing its MRO capacity at key locations and will support Envirotainer with maintenance and repair services at our recently started ground operations in Beijing, China.

“Unilode’s expertise in the maintenance and repair of Envirotainer’s active containers will ensure the optimal performance of our containers when time is of the essence and availability of the units is crucial to ensure the success of global vaccine distribution. We look forward to deepening our partnership with Unilode.”

Unilode Managing Director MRO Solutions Don Jacobs said: “As the world prepares for the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, stakeholders in the air cargo and pharmaceutical supply chain need to ensure a seamless and efficient end-to-end cold chain that includes the availability of temperature-controlled containers for the quick and efficient transportation of the vaccine.

“The strong partnership between Unilode and Envirotainer has provided a solid foundation to look for additional solutions to support the aviation and pharmaceutical industries and we have developed joint initiatives to meet the anticipated high demand for the distribution of pharmaceuticals around the world.

“Unilode’s global ULD MRO solutions make it possible to provide additional repair capability to meet its partners’ requirements and we are pleased that Unilode can help support the global distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine by saving time and increasing the availability of active containers for Envirotainer’s pharmaceutical customers.”