EVA AIR AND EVERGREEN AIRLINE SERVICES (EGAS) WIN PHARMA CERTIFICATIONS AGAIN

Designation signifies excellent in pharmaceutical logistics

16 April 2024 – EVA Air, Taiwan's leading independent airline, and Evergreen Airline Services Corp. (EGAS) have both earned certification once again from the International Air Transport Association's (IATA's) Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma). This certification verifies the highest standards in EVA's and EGAS's cold chain air and ground service operations at Taoyuan International Airport (TPE). It also distinguishes EVA Air as the only Taiwan-based airline and one of the few airlines in the world to have obtained certification for air and ground handling operations simultaneously, strengthening its position as one of the leading global one-stop cold chain pharmaceutical product carriers. 

IATA provides consistency and standardisation of global pharmaceutical transportation needs and standardises and assists the air transportation supply chain to establish safe and reliable logistics standards. CEIV Pharma (Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators) certification is regarded as the highest standard in the cold chain transportation industry and re-certification is required every three years. The companies not only have to put in a tremendous amount of funding to upgrade existing or build new cold chain facilities, but also arrange for employees to receive professional training and establish a complete quality control system in accordance with CEIV certification requirements to comply with international standards for transportation and storage. Standard specifications, especially for handling special pharmaceutical products that are temperature-sensitive, emphasise the need for strict standards and equipment.

EVA Air and EGAS pay special attention to the risk assessment and management of pharmaceutical cold chain transportation, with complete planning for station capacity analysis and evaluation, personnel training, and handling procedures before each transportation. During certification process, it was highly recognised by IATA. In 2021, EVA and EGAS obtained the certification for the first time and it has created an average 30% annual growth rate for pharmaceutical cold chain transportation in recent years. We expect the re-certification to help business growth in cold chain transportation, bringing the positive effects to Taiwan's biotech industries and connecting with the world.

Due to the strict temperature-controlled transportation conditions of cold chain logistics, starting in 2018, EVA Air has formed a team of experts to cooperate with several domestic and overseas temperature-controlled container suppliers to provide refrigerated, low-temperature, extremely-low temperature and other transportation services. Temperature-controlled containers can rely on physics and chemical reactions to keep cold up to 144 hours, without the need for dry ice. The containers can be closely monitored to track the temperature and humidity of transported products, providing safe, diverse, convenient and rapid cold chain transportation services. During the COVID-19 epidemic, EVA provided fast air transportation services to import and export different vaccines, making contributions to society and epidemic prevention.

The advancement of cold chain transportation can fulfill the needs for economic development and it has proven its capability to meet the dire needs of transportation of important supplies, especially in the face of an unknown epidemic. IATA's CEIV Pharma (Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators) certification can enhance the brand image for EVA and EGAS, and further gain the trust from customers, making the organisations become a strong supporter for global pharmaceutical cold chain transportation.

To learn more about EVA Air's travel destinations and award-winning services, and to buy tickets, visit www.evaair.com

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About EVA Air:

EVA Air is a Star Alliance member and is one of 10 SKYTRAX-rated 5-Star airlines worldwide. It also ranked 7th among the SKYTRAX World's Top 10 Airlines and secured additional spots in SKYTRAX's top 10 for Best Economy Class Onboard Catering, Best Business Class Airlines, World's Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness, World's Best Airport Services and more. TripAdvisor recognised it among the “Top 10 Airlines – World” and awarded it top spots in four more categories in its  Travelers' Choice Awards for Airlines while Travel + Leisure readers ranked it in the Top-10 International Airlines. It  won a spot in Condé Nast Traveler's prestigious 2021 Readers' Choice Awards for the Top 10 Airlines in the World and  also earned a place in AirlineRatings.com's “Best of the Best” World's Best Airlines 2021 after similarly high ratings for safety and COVID compliance in January. The carrier was established in 1989 as Taiwan's first privately owned international airline. It is part of the respected Evergreen Group and a sister company to global container-shipping leader Evergreen Line. It flies a fleet of more than 80 Boeing and Airbus aircraft to over 60 international destinations throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America where gateways are Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. Travellers can learn more about EVA destinations and schedules or book and buy tickets at www.evaair.com. 

Media contacts:

Hume Whitehead – Richard Hume (Richard@humewhitehead.co.uk, +44 (0)203 375 4050)