MUMBAI, India, 8th February 2010: Emirates SkyCargo has again bagged the award for “International Cargo Airline of the Year”  presented by STAT TIMES, the international multimodal transport media which has been encouraging excellence in various categories of the Air Cargo industry since 2006. Emirates SkyCargo was elected as a winner through a poll conducted across sectors in the aviation industry.

On receiving the award, Ram Menen, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President Cargo, said, “We are delighted that we have been chosen as the ‘International Cargo Airline of the Year’. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers, front line staff and airport services team who have helped us achieve this success year on year. This recognition is the best acknowledgment of our continued investment and commitment to providing a world-class cargo service to our customers."

Emirates SkyCargo continues to be one of the leading carriers in India. In first half of the financial year 2009-2010, Emirates SkyCargo executed a record uplift of over 54,000 tonnes of outbound load and achieved overall 75 per cent capacity utilisation in India.

Emirates SkyCargo introduced a weekly Boeing 777 freighter service to and from Kolkata in mid-June 2009 and also operates a dedicated freighter aircraft (Boeing 777F) on the Dubai-Chennai-Hong Kong route once a week. These freighters are wide body aircraft and the quietest and most fuel efficient freighter in the industry, enabling utilisation of full payload of the aircraft. Emirates’ dedicated freighter services are in addition to the belly hold capacity of the 99 weekly flights the airline operates to the South India gateways of: Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Thiruvanathapuram and Kozhikode - which supports the region’s export of perishables, engineering goods, spices, electronics and handloom products to Dubai and other international markets.

From India, Emirates SkyCargo carries pharmaceuticals and vaccines electronics & electricals, engineering spares, chemicals, jute, silk, perishables ranging from poultry products, seafood and meat to fruits and vegetables; valuables from jewellery, diamonds and currency to diplomatic mail; leather & finished leather goods, unaccompanied baggage , courier and mail; to the Gulf, Africa, the US and Europe. Goods imported comprise mainly of medical equipment, life saving drugs, fine chemical & reagents, computer hardware, telecom equipment, electronic product, laboratory and research equipment, project cargo, pets , life-saving drugs, hotel industry high-end consumables, and high-end retail merchandise.

Emirates airline currently operates 184 weekly flights to 10 Indian destinations with a cargo capacity of 3,211 tones per week per direction.

Emirates’ extensive global network of over 100 destinations is well supported by the Cargo Mega Terminal in Dubai spread over an area of 43,600 square metres. The excellent ground handling services ensures the shortest acceptance, delivery and transit times of any major international airport, with urgent inbound consignments cleared within 120 minutes of arrival, outbound acceptances up to just 120 minutes prior to departure and outbound transfers possible in less than 120 minutes.