The escalating war in Iran and the wider region has disrupted two of the most critical logistics and cargo corridors in the world – the Strait of Hormuz and the air hubs around the major Gulf states. This has led to delays across supply chains the world over. Commercial activity in the Strait of Hormuz is around 80% lower than it was prior to the current conflict. As pharmaceutical exports make up a large percentage of all exports in Ireland, paired with the current conflict in the Middle East, the use of pharmaceutical air corridors has become more important than ever before. How do we protect Ireland’s biggest export in 2026?

Pharmaceuticals and Ireland

Pharmaceuticals are Ireland’s largest export. Based on 2024 data, Ireland is the 4th largest exporter of pharmaceuticals in the world. Medical and pharma products accounted for 45% of total goods exports, totalling over €99.9 billion. As Ireland’s economy has grown, exports of pharmaceutical products have grown and driven the progress. The industry is reliant on ingredients and components from all over the world, which means that any crisis that impacts the trade routes around the world will have an impact on both the import of these goods to make the pharmaceutical products that are due to be exported. With this in mind it is important that pharmaceutical air corridors are maintained to ensure that trade can continue, and that there are contingency plans for the worst-case scenarios, such as the on-going closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the conflict between the US and Iran.

What is a pharmaceutical air corridor?

A pharma corridor is more than just a traditional cargo route. It is a pre-validated trade lane that offers proven reliability at every step of the journey with the assistance of fully trained staff. Expert freight forwarders, such as Emerald Freight, understand the importance of providing transit for pharmaceutical goods that are fast, secure, and meet stringent regulatory concerns. This includes temperature-controlled cargo options, compliance guarantees, and trust at every stage of the process. Dedicated trade lanes for pharmaceutical cargo establishes long-term business confidence along every step of the supply chain, including customs staff, ground handling agents, forwarders, and stakeholders.

What are the benefits of a pharma corridor?

There are several benefits to a pharma corridor for businesses that export pharma products. As it is such a massive part of the Irish economy, air corridors bring the following benefits:

  • Consistency – dedicated air freight corridors provide a guaranteed payload space within a critical transport lane, ensuring that capacities can be met on a consistent basis. Reliability of cargo delivery is vital to global trade.
  • Temperature – managing the temperature of cargo is vital, as this ensures the integrity of the products. Cold-chain facilities reduce the need for heavy passive packaging, which ensures lower costs and lower risks.
  • Regulatory compliance – one of the ways in which delays can occur is with improper or missing documentation at customs clearance. Compliant aviation hubs and freight forwarding services ensure accurate and speedy documentation and handling standards.

Ensuring these points is core to delivering pharma products.

What are the practical implications of pharma corridors for freight forwarders?

Freight forwarders look for the most viable and reliable route for cargo that suits the needs of each exporter/importer and for the specific products and industry in question. Protecting Ireland’s biggest export in 2026 takes shape through the provision of the most effective cargo routes, which pharma corridors provide.

Pharma corridors narrows variability, increasing consistency and reliability. It means fewer transits, fewer handoffs, and defined journey plans. It gives us access to pure visibility from start to finish, reduces transit times and lowers the stress of thermal viability and packaging concerns. Packaging optimisation is a key concern for pharma exports, ensuring that the integrity of pharma goods remains intact through the use of temperature-controlled transit options at every stage of the delivery process. Tightening up cargo plans for pharma products helps to improve broader logistics patterns, with defined cargo routes and temperature-controlled options that provide a reliable option for a key sector. This provides a reliable option compared with ad-hoc agreements and shipments.

What is the impact of the Strait of Hormuz on air freight?

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has impacted multiple industries and the entire global economy, causing distress to the supply chain for critical industries and products and pushing prices up for energy and myriad other products and essential items. The impact on Ireland’s key industries is clear for all to see. The Strait of Hormuz is responsible for a fifth of global crude oil and LNG transport, and the conflict has led to a significant increase in the price of oil globally. The counter attacks by Iran on Gulf States has led to closures of not only the Strait of Hormuz but also air space in the area, impacting both ocean freight and air freight routes. The rising costs and delays in cargo has an impact on Ireland’s pharmaceutical and medical device exports in particular. There is an estimate that 20% of Ireland’s exports of these products are affected by the current disruptions. If this is to continue for the next few weeks and months, it will become more difficult to maintain a stable supply chain for the pharmaceutical sector and all other industries.

Maintaining the flow of pharmaceutical trade in 2026

Protecting the movement of air freight is more important than ever. Pharmaceutical goods make up the biggest share of Ireland’s overall exports, so it is important for Irish businesses and the Irish economy that air cargo can continue when there are challenges to overcome. As the Strait of Hormuz is closed to sea freight due to the conflict between the US and Iran, disruption to both sea and air freight continues to put pressure on economies around the globe. If you’d like to connect with a freight expert today, our experienced team will be happy to talk with you about the logistical challenges being faced, and how pharmaceutical air corridors maintain the integrity of the industry and keep the supply chain intact.