Passenger jets can play integral role in frozen vaccine airlift

Passenger jets will be able to transport coronavirus vaccines at the required ultra-low temperatures as long as they are stored in specially made containers, according to Europe’s biggest cargo-only airline.

No plane, even a purpose-built freighter, would otherwise be able to keep inoculations at the minus-80 degrees Celsius (minus-112 Fahrenheit) specified by Pfizer Inc. for its shot, according to Cargolux Airlines International SA Chief Executive Officer Richard Forson. That would make shipment in custom-designed boxes the only viable option, he said Thursday.

“The container itself can remain at ambient temperature because it’s protected on the inside,” he said in a London Aviation Club webinar, adding that capacity won’t be an issue. “All the passenger aircraft in the world will be mobilized to transport these vaccines,” he said.