BAS completes Bahrain airport cargo cooling units' upgrade
MANAMA, February 6, 2023
Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) has completed the work related to the modernisation of cargo cooling units at the Bahrain International Airport. The move is aimed at meeting all storage requirements of goods imported via airfreight into the kingdom.
BAS had initiated the launch of a project to modernise these refrigeration units for air cargo parcels and goods located on the western side of Bahrain International Airport following instructions from HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, regarding the participation of all sectors in advancing the achievement of the provisions of the recovery plan.
It is in compliance with HRH Prince Salman's directives focusing on developing promising sectors in the kingdom, including the logistics sector, said a statement from BAS.
BAS worked to enhance and expand the facilities of the refrigeration facility to meet all the storage requirements of goods imported via airfreight in Bahrain, it added.
This comes as part of Bahrain's national strategy for the logistics services sector, and in pursuit of providing the best solutions and services contributing to its role in achieving the most effective customs practices in the field of freight, and consolidating joint relations within the field, said the statement from BAS.
A joint co-operation customs agreement was signed by Bahrain along with Saudi Arabia in 2019. This entailed a mutual recognition of the Economic Operator program approved by both parties, which creates a single-entry point that enhances intra-regional trade through coordinated and sustainable custom procedures.
BAS Chairman Nabeel Khalid Kanoo said: "In compliance with the company’s fulfilment of the national plans related to the development of the logistics services sector, as well as the mutual agreement with the KSA, the company went about the idea of modernizing refrigeration units at BIA."
This was mainly to keep pharma products at these cooling units with utmost quality due to the reliable storage unit/method," noted Kanoo.
According to him, the aim of the newly developed unit was to facilitate the arrival of such goods imported from abroad to Bahrain International Airport, and then transporting them via land freight to KSA without the need of re-inspection.
"BAS is aware of the positive impact this step will have on increasing incoming shipments to Bahrain and enhancing the movement of freight and international transportation of goods through the kingdom, as many airfreight companies prefer to land here to transport their goods to KSA," he stated.
The company has already received several trucking orders for KSA from prominent freight service providers including CargoLux and LH, which has boosted ground transportation business at BAS.
This service has been activated to ship cosmetics as a first step, with future directions to include pharmaceuticals sector especially in a post-pandemic era, he added.
CEO Mohamed Khalil Ahmed said the project scope included the installation of a building management system (BMS) in order to automate the building and achieve higher efficiency of automatic control and monitoring of all equipment and devices to avoid any technical errors that may affect storage safety.
"The size of the cold rooms have also been expanded to double the storage capacity in the Cargo Cooling Facility to meet the demand for storing pharmaceutical and cosmetic products," noted Ahmed.
"Furthermore, two additional cold rooms have been added with a total area of 415 sq m operating at a temperature of (15-25 degrees Celsius), which has led to the separation of the cold store into three sections, one of which is specialized in storing food items, one for medicines and pharmaceuticals, and lastly cosmetics," he stated.
With the completion of the cargo cooling facility, BAS said it now aims to obtain the ‘CEIV’ certificate from the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics.
This certification is given to trusted carriers for the shipment of time- and temperature- sensitive products.
The granting of the CEIV’ certificate will help consolidate the kingdom’s position on the map of logistics services and trade exchange, as a preferred destination for airfreight in the region, it added.
-TradeArabia News Service
