Frontier Scientific Solutions has announced the world’s first fully dedicated life sciences air route between Europe and the US, establishing a nonstop, temperature-controlled corridor linking Shannon, Ireland and Wilmington, North Carolina.
Temperature-controlled flights reduce risk
Launching in October 2025, the service marks a significant shift in transatlantic pharmaceutical logistics, offering a route exclusively for finished medicines, APIs and medical devices. Operated by Boeing 767 freighters, the flights will run six days a week, with all cargo maintained in strictly temperature-mapped conditions and handled within a GDP-compliant, end-to-end network.
According to Frontier, the corridor is engineered to eliminate common points of failure in global cold-chain supply. This includes cutting down on handoffs, points where shipments are transferred between vehicles or facilities, reducing time on tarmac and ensuring full quality oversight. The company says this model also lessens the risk of temperature excursions and product loss, which are long-standing pain points for both clinical trial sponsors and commercial shippers.
Boosting jobs and local investment
Frontier’s investment is set to create around 350 jobs across Shannon and Wilmington over the next three to five years, spanning quality, engineering, operations and customer support. Both airports also benefit from Free Trade Zone status, which is expected to streamline cross-border movement and improve predictability for time-sensitive shipments.
Leandro Moreira, President, Transportation, Frontier, said the project delivers on a longstanding need for “a reliable, efficient, GDP-compliant air transportation corridor designed exclusively for life science”. By reducing touchpoints and improving control, he said, the route will “strengthen the global life sciences supply chain” and “protect patient safety”.
Strengthening the global supply chain
Ray O’Driscoll, Interim CEO, Shannon Airport Group, described the dedicated corridor as a “significant milestone” for Ireland’s pharma sector, while Jeff Bourk, Director, Wilmington International Airport, said the hub’s runway access and FTZ capabilities create “an advantage” for pharma manufacturers and logistics providers.
The corridor builds on Frontier’s partnership with Air Transport Services Group, whose fleet will support the company’s growing global life-sciences-only network. Frontier says the model ultimately aims to deliver safer, faster and more secure movement of critical therapies between two of the industry’s most important manufacturing regions.
