Head off to the Puerto Rico Life Science Air Community website, and the first thing you’ll read is “Puerto Rico is the number one bioscience manufacturing hub in the U.S by export volume.” And it continues to grow at an impressive rate. The Community recently published the statistics it received from its collaboration with air cargo consulting, data, and software specialist, Rotate. Rotate’s figures are also available on Community’s web site as one of the support initiatives of the free-to-join group which aims to increase standards and quality of the region’s life science cargo transportation. Overall, the results show an increase both in healthcare exports (+8% year-on-year 2023 to 2024) as well as an increase in available cargo capacity (+7%) between Europe and South America. Air cargo capacity on flights to Europe increased by 22%, whilst capacity on routes to South America was up 35% on last year. The overall integrator capacity has remained the same, however, Rotate’s data shows a lower dependency on integrator capacity – down 2% on 2023 to 64%.
Varlin Vissepó, Executive Director and Chairman of the Puerto Rico Life Sciences Air Cargo Community, stated: “The Rotate report offers essential insights into Puerto Rico’s air cargo landscape, providing our logistics community with the knowledge needed to stay informed and understand the dynamics of life sciences cargo movement. This data empowers the Puerto Rico Life Sciences Air Cargo Community to make informed decisions that strengthen our collective position in the industry. We deeply value the strong support from the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, which has been instrumental in advancing our shared initiatives. Together, we are making significant strides in positioning Puerto Rico as a key player in global life sciences logistics.”
Manuel Cidre, Secretary of the DEDC, commented: “The Rotate report is a testament to the significant progress made in establishing Puerto Rico as a premier life sciences airfreight hub in the Americas. The Department of Economic Development and Commerce is proud to support the Puerto Rico Life Sciences Air Cargo Community in its efforts to expand life sciences exports and attract new air cargo capacity. Our collaborative initiatives — including the IATA CEIV certification program, the development of a comprehensive industry dashboard, and incentives to enhance climate-controlled warehousing —have been instrumental in driving these positive results. The data clearly demonstrates that Puerto Rico is on the right path to becoming a global leader in life sciences logistics.”
