Liege passes 10,000 tonnes of pharma traffic on Chicago corridor

Scheduled pharmaceutical traffic between Liege Airport and Chicago O'Hare has passed 10,000 tonnes, reaching the figure this month since a fixed schedule launched in early 2026. The milestone is the first hard measure of CargoLand by LGG's investment in its cool chain handling facilities.

"Year to date, we have moved over 10,000 tonnes of pharma to ORD. The demand grew rapidly because of the stable service and ensuring stable operations we offer," said Frederic Brun, Vice President Sales and Marketing at Liege Airport.

Where does the traffic come from?

Not from new business, by the airport's own account. The corridor's pharmaceutical volumes consist largely of shipments transferred to Liege from other airports. According to Brun, those transfers signal freight forwarders' confidence in the service's reliability rather than underlying market growth.

The operation runs three weekly rotations on a Liege–Chicago–Dubai pattern. Every flight, outbound and return, is full. That is a capacity signal as much as a commercial one: the corridor has no spare volume at current frequencies, and any further growth would require additional rotations or larger aircraft.

What sets the handling standard?

The airport's Service Level Agreements for pharmaceutical customers specify tight exposure windows. Brun put the figures plainly: 20 minutes from truck to fridge, and 20 minutes from fridge to loading, as standard.

"Reducing exposure time reduces risk, while keeping handling straightforward and limiting the number of parties involved makes the process easier to manage," he explained. "Expertise developed over several years is now becoming standard practice at LGG."

The cargo mix includes insulin, vaccines and other medicines, each with distinct temperature and handling requirements. Consolidation is helped by Liege's geography. The airport collects from a major pharmaceutical group's sites in France and Germany, prepares the freight on site, and flies it out under one roof.

Round-the-clock operations add flexibility, Brun said, particularly during disruption or urgent shipments. The same 24/7 capability has supported relief flights out of Liege and new product launches in markets including Brazil.

How large is the pharma business overall?

The corridor figure sits inside a larger trend. Pharmaceutical volumes through Liege have grown by more than 120 percent, a result Brun tied directly to strategy rather than accident.

"We saw an enormous growth on pharma vertical that follows the strategy of diversification. It is not only a word for us, it is a motto that we have applied for four years now. It is now paying off for us," he said.

Certification underpins the operation. All cargo handlers at Liege hold IATA CEIV Pharma certification, which the airport treats as a foundation for further development. Surrounding businesses increasingly see openings to contribute their own expertise to pharmaceutical logistics.

What comes next for the network?

The growth plan is outward-facing. The airport aims to develop its freighter network around customer needs, connecting pharmaceutical production centres with markets that need reliable access to medicines.

Two directions stand out. Existing African connections, built originally on flower imports, offer return-leg capacity for pharmaceutical exports. Filling those backhauls with medicine rather than empty space would support both growth and improved access to medicines across Africa. India appears on the list of future destinations and origins, alongside what Brun called more challenging markets where freighter capacity can be matched to pharmaceutical demand.

For now, the Chicago corridor remains the proof point. Ten thousand tonnes on a three-weekly rotation, with full aircraft in both directions, shows a route that has outgrown its current capacity. Whether Liege adds frequencies to O'Hare or replicates the model elsewhere, the next milestone will test whether transferred volumes keep compounding.