Panalpina Luxembourg gets license to handle organic produce

Panalpina’s hub at Luxembourg Airport (LUX) has been officially licensed by Certisys to handle organic fruits and vegetables.

This makes Panalpina the first and only licensed receiver of organic produce at LUX, one of Europe's busiest airports by cargo tonnage, and shows the company’s commitment to developing the Panalpina Perishables Network not just through volume growth, but also by investing in quality processes and value-added services that directly benefit customers.

Quint Wilken, Panalpina’s regional head of Perishables Europe, explains the significance of the latest Certisys certification: “To be able to sell organic fruits or vegetables in the supermarket, every part of the supply chain, from grower to final distributor, needs to be certified by one of the controlling bodies. If the chain is broken, the product is not allowed to be called organic anymore.”

For example, Panalpina uses Luxembourg as an important European import hub for organic avocados from Latin America. These are flown in directly from Mexico using Panalpina’s Boeing 747-8 Freighter, cleared and then trucked to their final destination in Europe.

With Luxembourg certified by Certisys and Amsterdam by SKAL, Panalpina now has two airport locations in Europe that are licensed for the handling of organic perishables. The Luxembourg and Amsterdam hubs are directly connected to the tarmac, ensuring the shortest possible route between aircraft and cold storage.

Correction (September 14, 2017): a previous version of this article misstated that Amsterdam and Heathrow were also certified by Certisys. This is not the case, Amsterdam is certified by SKAL, as shown in the current version. London Heathrow is not officially certified to handle organic perishables but is able to do so.