Emirates Sky Cargo, the
freight division of Emirates, one of the fastest growing
international airlines, says it has bolstered its operations on the
booming Africa trade route. Supporting the thriving trade between
Africa and the rest of the world, its weekly cargo capacity into
and out of the continent will be over 6000 tonnes after the launch
of flights to Lusaka and Harare on 1st February, the airline
further states.
"The addition of flights to the
capitals of Zambia and Zimbabwe comes less than three months after
the launch of a dedicated weekly freighter to Accra and Lome and
means Emirates Sky Cargo now has a total annual capacity of more
than 300,000 tonnes. The two new gateways mean Emirates SkyCargo
can connect businesses in 22 countries across Africa to its network
of more than 100 destinations, while also providing increased
opportunities for key trading partners such as China and Japan.
"While many regions are
experiencing challenging economic conditions, Africa - with a
population in excess of one billion and rich in natural resources -
is one of the few areas to record growth and the long-term outlook
is very positive," says Ram Menen, Emirates' Divisional Senior Vice
President Cargo. "We expect demand to be strong for a variety of
commodities going into and out of Lusaka and Harare and have no
doubt the two destinations will be a strong addition to our African
network." The Dubai-Lusaka-Harare service will be operated five
times a week by an A330-200, providing a total weekly cargo
capacity of up to 160 tonnes.
South Africa - with a weekly
capacity of more than 1500 tonnes spread across the belly-hold of
84 passenger flights serving Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, as
well as two dedicated Johannesburg freighters - is Emirates
SkyCargo's key trading point on the continent. Dedicated freighters
also operate to Eldoret and Lilongwe, while the other points on
Emirates SkyCargo's African network - Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Accra,
Cairo, Casablanca, Dakar, Dar el Salaam, Entebbe, Khartoum, Lagos,
Luanda, Nairobi, Tripoli, and Tunisia - are served using either the
belly-hold of wide-body passenger aircraft, or a combination of the
belly-hold and freighters.