Dubai, UAE, April 2, 2025 – Backed by almost four decades’ experience in keeping goods and people moving all over the world, Emirates has launched Emirates Courier Express, an end-to-end delivery solution that is set to redefine the express delivery experience. 

To ensure Emirates Courier Express addressed industry-wide challenges, Emirates worked with various global customers to pilot and finesse the product, with the goal to make it as fast, reliable and flexible as possible, before launching to market. Over the last year, Emirates Courier Express transported several thousands of packages from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, South Africa and the UK. The average delivery time is less than 48 hours. Now, Emirates Courier Express is open for business, for businesses. 

Badr Abbas, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates SkyCargo said, “Emirates Courier Express is an evolution in how we move goods across the globe, at speed and at scale. Building on our world-class and well-established infrastructure, and reimagining traditional logistics processes where necessary, this innovative solution does not just meet the Emirates Gold Standard of reliability and excellence but sets a new benchmark for what’s possible. This is only the beginning of our vision to continuously innovate and lead the charge in the express delivery sector.” 

Traditionally, cross-border delivery is managed via a global hub-and-spoke model, with a package making multiple stops before arriving at its end destination. Emirates Courier Express has broken this mould. Just like passengers, packages will travel from origin to destination directly, leveraging the breadth of Emirates’ vast global network and near-unparalleled flight frequencies. This approach significantly reduces time in transit, reduces package handling and offers Emirates Courier Express customers’ a competitive edge in getting their goods to end users. Direct connectivity is matched with different service levels, ranging from next day urgent delivery to a two-day Premium service, along with a pipeline of innovative new products. 

At launch, Emirates Courier Express will be active and available in seven markets, however the potential network growth is unlimited: wherever Emirates flies, Emirates Courier Express can deliver. Expansion to additional markets is already in the works. 

Harnessing the fleet of the world’s largest international airline, Emirates Courier Express has access to over 250 all widebody passenger and freighter aircraft to move packages worldwide. Complemented by a trusted, reliable and integrated cross border network of partners to manage the customs clearance and first and last mile transportation, the solution delivers door-to-door. This integration into the airline’s existing infrastructure allows Emirates Courier Express to handle volume fluctuations from seasonal spikes while maintaining cost stability, ultimately empowering customers to plan and budget with confidence. 

This seamless integration also enables Emirates Courier Express to provide bespoke and tailored solutions, whether transporting fashion and mobile phones or the most critical medical equipment. A team of dedicated specialists provide niche segment solutions, facilitated by the airline’s extensive freight and logistics infrastructure, including cool chain capacity, allowing the transportation of specialist or sensitive products from launch.

Prioritising ease of business, Emirates Courier Express’ is entirely digital, with a purpose-built tech platform integrating directly into customer software and supports additional bespoke shipping solutions. Advanced tracking systems, real-time updates, and seamless integration, ensures complete efficiency, reliability, quality, and transparency from collection to delivery across the world. 

Dennis Lister, Senior Vice President of Product and Innovation, Emirates SkyCargo said, “Emirates Courier Express is the result of challenging the status quo. Along with the industry, we watched the increasing volumes of cross border shipping and challenged ourselves to find a better way to transport these goods faster and more efficiently. The new product launch reflects our ongoing commitment to push the boundaries to introduce innovations which drive real impact and ensure our customers always have access to the fastest, most reliable and cost-effective solutions available." 

To find out how Emirates Courier Express could redefine your approach to international delivery, visit our website.

Dubai, UAE, 15 January 2025 – Throughout 2024, the demand for Emirates SkyCargo’s specialist product portfolio, extensive global network and all widebody fleet continued to grow exponentially, with no signs of slowing down. To meet the burgeoning global demand, the airline has wet-leased two additional Boeing 747 freighters, starting 2025 with a 15% increase in critical main deck cargo capacity, compared to January 2024.

Badr Abbas, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates SkyCargo said: “Throughout 2024, we made significant investments in new and leased freighter aircraft to address the evolving supply chain and air cargo demands around the world to ensure we had a stable supply of capacity to best serve our global customers. This remains a key priority for Emirates SkyCargo, as we set our sights on the next era of growth. 

“We anticipate that demand will continue to boom, reflecting Dubai’s prominence as a global logistics hub. Enhancing our cargo capabilities is essential to support Dubai’s Economic Agenda, enabling us to reach new destinations, bolster our current operations and elevate our specialist product portfolio.” 

The multi-year lease for the Boeing 747s was signed with the Compass Group, one of Emirates SkyCargo’s longstanding and most reliable partners. This investment in additional Boeing 747F capacity enables the airline to unlock immediate capacity to cater to customer demand, while the partners discuss avenues for further expansion of the collaboration.

Emirates SkyCargo’s leasing strategy complements its owned fleet, which continues to grow. In 2024, the airline received two of its new Boeing 777Fs, which immediately entered service, with a focus on the increasing demand of eCommerce shipments from Asian markets. The additional aircraft also enabled Emirates SkyCargo to expand its network of destinations served by freighters to 38, with the deployment of a weekly freighter to Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Emirates SkyCargo active operating fleet now consists of 10 Boeing 777Fs and six wet-leased Boeing 747s, bringing the aircraft count to 16. The airline also has 13 Boeing 777Fs on order, with expected delivery between 2025 and 2026. This substantial orderbook will support the airline through its next phase of growth, while it explores all options for the future fleet, including the Boeing 777-8F and Airbus A350-1000F.

Facilitating the swift, reliable and efficient movement of goods, Emirates SkyCargo harnesses the widebody fleet and multi-frequency schedules of Emirates’ passenger operations. The recently increased passenger flights to key cities including Madagascar via the Seychelles, Uganda and Ethiopia, followed by Johannesburg, South Africa and Melbourne, Australia before the end of the financial year, will further bolster the freight division’s capacity to transport goods worldwide. Finally, the arrival of the first A350, which entered service this month, will further boost bellyhold capacity, offering 12 tonnes on every flight.

The agreement, worth over US$ 1.7 billion at list prices, takes the airline’s total order book to 200 wide-body aircraft.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, said: “Emirates is investing in new freighters so that we can continue to serve customer demand. This order reflects Emirates’ confidence in airfreight demand and overall aviation sector growth. It lays the ground for our continued growth, which is driven by the reach of our diverse global network, the advanced handling infrastructure at our Dubai hub, and the tailored transport solutions that Emirates has developed to serve our varied customers’ needs.”

Stan Deal, President and Chief Executive Officer, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: “We value the trust that Emirates has repeatedly placed in its all-Boeing freighter fleet. The expansion of Emirates’ fleet with these additional 777 Freighters will enable the airline to support its growing cargo market demand, transporting goods rapidly and efficiently from origin to destination in the Middle East and around the world.”

At last November’s Dubai Airshow, Emirates announced a US$ 1 billion investment to expand its air cargo capacity, including 2 new 777Fs which have already joined the Emirates fleet in 2022, and plans to convert 10 Boeing 777-300ERs into freighter aircraft. The aircraft conversion work is scheduled to begin in 2023.

Emirates was the launch customer for the Boeing 777 freighter. The versatile aircraft has since become core to the airline’s operations, operating scheduled and charter missions to destinations across six continents. The 777-F’s range and payload capabilities allow Emirates to efficiently transport time and temperature sensitive shipments from origin to destination - whether it is time critical goods, fresh products, medicines, pets, cars or champion racehorses.

Emirates currently operates a fleet of 11 Boeing 777 freighters, in addition to bellyhold cargo capacity on its fleet of widebody 777 and A380 passenger aircraft.  Emirates SkyCargo is one of the world’s largest air cargo carriers, offering a range of tailored solutions for its customers’ requirements. For more information on Emirates SkyCargo, visit: www.skycargo.com

The MoU was signed at the World Cargo Symposium (WCS) – IATA event in London, UK by Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo and Jan Krems, President, United Cargo.

Under the terms of the MoU, Emirates SkyCargo and United Cargo will work closely on a number of aspects, which include expanding cargo interline options and blocked space agreements, pending regulatory approvals. This will build on existing cargo interline arrangements between both air cargo operators and offer freight customers access to more capacity on a larger combined global network.

“Emirates SkyCargo is committed to being the leading player in the global air cargo industry providing our customers with the highest standards of products and services. Cooperating with United, who is a leading airline in its own right with strengths and a network that are complementary to our own, will allow us to add value for our customers and help them reach new markets more speedily,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

“United is pleased to work with Emirates SkyCargo on this MoU. As one of the leading carriers worldwide, Emirates SkyCargo is an important player in the industry, and our supplementary capabilities allow us to provide new service offerings to our customers worldwide. We share a common commitment to providing industry-leading solutions for our customers and we look forward to working together in the future.” said Jan Krems, President, United Cargo.

United Cargo will have access to Emirates SkyCargo’s high frequency distribution network through the belly-hold of passenger flights to over 100 global destinations and 11 freighters, whilst Emirates SkyCargo will have access to over 200 cities in the US and 300 cities across five continents through United Cargo.

About Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo is the airfreight division of Emirates. Through its state of the art hub in Dubai, Emirates SkyCargo transports cargo to over 140 destinations across a global network spanning six continents. The air cargo carrier offers customers cargo capacity on its modern fleet of all wide-body Boeing 777, Airbus A380 aircraft and 11 dedicated B777-F freighters. For more information, www.skycargo.com

Contact: 
Emirates Public Relations, 
pr@emirates.com

Emirates’ freight division has seen significant increase in cargo loads across its products, including pharma and fresh produce. In 2021-22, annual tonnage carried crossed 2.1 million, an increase of 15 percent, with transport of perishables crossing 260,000 tonnes, and both pharma and valuable goods each growing by 17 percent.

Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President Emirates SkyCargo said: “The new freighter will help increase our capacity and boost our ability to deliver vital goods, and facilitate trade globally. Despite the challenging headwinds this year, the air cargo industry is booming and we’ve been flat out since the pandemic began. Emirates SkyCargo will continue its journey as one of the world’s largest and best air cargo airlines by investing in our fleet, our global network, technology, and world-class logistics infrastructure at our Dubai hub and beyond.”

Most global markets are experiencing an increase in demand, including China. Emirates SkyCargo will now serve China with an additional four freighter flights every week. From this week, Shanghai will be served with six direct flights, Beijing with two and Guangzhou with four, adding more than 400 tonnes of cargo to and from China. 

Plans are also afoot to increase frequencies to Hanoi and Sydney with direct services. Additional frequencies to Nairobi are also earmarked to be part of a freighter multi-stop route from DWC to Eldoret International Airport in Kenya. The flight then hops to Nairobi before heading north to Maastricht, Netherlands and then to Zaragoza, Spain before the 777F returns home to DWC. At each stop, the freighter unloads and reloads with various types of cargo including, flowers, textiles and pharma. 

The brand new freighter, A6-EFU, will maintain the fleet total at 11 Boeing 777Fs because A6-EFG went back to its lessor last week.

Emirates SkyCargo’s Boeing 777-F and 777 Mini-Freighter aircraft have flown nearly 950 charter flights in the last 12 months, while continuing to serve the airline’s over 130 passenger and 11 dedicated freighter destinations. Emirates SkyCargo also offers shippers cargo belly-hold space in the airline’s passenger fleet of close to 210 wide-body Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s.

Plans are also already underway to convert 10 passenger 777s into freighters, boosting the cargo fleet to 21 by the end of 2026.

Emirates SkyCargo offers a portfolio of solutions designed for the unique requirements of its varied customers. Whether it is perishable cargo such as food items and flowers; certified cool-chain handling for pharma products; valuables and technology items; cars and industrial items; champion horses and domestic pets; mail and courier items; or general cargo, the freight division has the experience and capabilities with specialised solutions to meet the needs of shippers.

Emirates SkyCargo was the launch customer for the Boeing 777-F and the aircraft has been at the heart of the carrier’s operations since 2009. The aircraft’s range and payload capabilities allow time and temperature sensitive shipments to be transported rapidly and efficiently from origin to destination.

About Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo is the airfreight division of Emirates. Through its state-of-the-art hub in Dubai, Emirates SkyCargo transports cargo to over 140 destinations across a global network spanning six continents. The air cargo carrier offers customers cargo capacity on its modern fleet of all widebody Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft. For more information, visit: www.skycargo.com

Vaccines moved to more than 80 destinations through Dubai, supporting local vaccination programmes

Dubai, UAE 4 April 2022- Emirates SkyCargo has transported more than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines on its aircraft. The air cargo carrier has achieved this historic milestone within a span of 18 months from the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines trialled in October 2020. More than 4,200 tonnes of COVID-19 vaccines, equivalent to over 1 billion doses, have been moved to over 80 destinations on over 2,000 Emirates flights. Close to two-thirds of the 1 billion doses were transported to developing countries.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: “From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo has been focused on supporting global communities in their recovery from the devastating effects of the virus and we have prioritised assistance to developing countries. The strategic location of our Dubai hub combined with the strengths of our modern fleet of widebody aircraft, our purpose built facilities and capabilities in moving temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals allowed us to transport COVID-19 vaccines securely, reliably and rapidly from one corner of the globe to another. Ahead of World Health Day, we’re incredibly proud of our global Emirates SkyCargo team who have pulled out all stops during the pandemic to keep supply chains for essential goods like vaccines up and running. ”

As early as August 2020, Emirates SkyCargo was one of the first global air cargo carriers to begin mapping out the global logistics for the movement of potential vaccines for COVID-19 transport. In October 2020, Emirates announced that it would be setting aside a dedicated GDP certified airside hub for transport of COVID-19 vaccines. During the same month, working with its logistics partners, the cargo division of Emirates transported trial shipments of COVID-19 vaccines through Dubai.

In January 2021, Emirates SkyCargo teamed up with leading Dubai-based companies to form the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance to speed up distribution of vaccines through Dubai to developing countries. In February 2021, the carrier signed an MoU with UNICEF to prioritise transport and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in support of the COVAX initiative. By early April 2021, Emirates SkyCargo had already transported more than 50 million doses of vaccines.

In June 2021, Emirates SkyCargo expanded its pharma cool chain infrastructure at Dubai International Airport, allowing it to store an additional estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at any one point of time. With the global scaling up of vaccine distribution and administration, Emirates SkyCargo facilitated transport of larger volumes of COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturing origins to destinations, reaching 250 million doses by September 2021 and 600 million doses by December 2021. 

Emirates SkyCargo is one of the leading global air cargo carriers for the transport of temperature sensitive pharmaceutical cargo. In addition to COVID-19 vaccines, the carrier transports other critical life-saving medicines and treatments on its flights to more than 140 destinations across six continents. An estimated 200 tonnes of pharmaceutical cargo are flown every day on Emirates’ aircraft.

Dubai, UAE, 16 March 2022- Emirates SkyCargo has announced that it will be reactivating its cargo hub in Dubai South, Emirates SkyCentral DWC, for dedicated freighter aircraft operations from 26 March 2022. 

The move will mark a return to dual hub cargo operations in Dubai for the air cargo carrier after a period of nearly two years. In April 2020, Emirates SkyCargo consolidated its freighter (main deck) and passenger (bellyhold) cargo operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB) in light of the suspension of passenger flights during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The consolidation was aimed at streamlining and expediting the transport of essential supplies and medical items across the world. 

With the growth of Emirates’ passenger network and operations, as well as the progressive increase in cargo volumes, Emirates SkyCargo will once again structure its operations across two hubs in Dubai- with Emirates SkyCentral DXB handling cargo arriving or departing on passenger aircraft and Emirates SkyCentral DWC handling cargo on freighter aircraft. 

Emirates SkyCentral DWC was inaugurated in 2015 and has a total cargo capacity of more than 1 million tonnes per annum. The state of the art terminal features extensive cool chain handling facilities as well as a dedication pharma handling zone certified for EU GDP standards. Dedicated aircraft parking stands in close proximity to the terminal allow for rapid and efficient transportation of cargo. 

A fleet of dedicated trucks operating on a 24*7 basis will provide seamless connectivity for cargo between the two airports. For high priority cargo and urgently required commodities, Emirates SkyCargo will be able to connection time of under five hours from wheels down at DXB to wheels up at DWC and vice-versa. 

Emirates SkyCargo is the air freight division of Emirates, offering cargo capacity to customers on its fleet of all widebody Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft over a global network of more than 140 destinations across six continents.

“This has been without question one of the most challenging years for our industry as the pandemic continues to create difficulties across the entire supply chain and across all modes of transportation. However, Emirates SkyCargo has been a first mover in ensuring that trade lanes remain open by reinstating flights and providing additional capacity on key trade routes across six continents. We remain committed to offering the highest levels of service to our customers with safety at the centre of everything we do,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

January: Distribution of COVID-19 vaccines

Emirates SkyCargo has maintained an unwavering focus on supporting communities, especially those in developing markets, with rapid access to COVID-19 vaccines and other medical supplies. To this end, in January 2021, Emirates SkyCargo partnered with leading Dubai-based entities- DP World, International Humanitarian City and Dubai Airports to form the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance to expedite global vaccine distribution through Dubai.

Emirates SkyCargo also signed an MoU with UNICEF in February 2021 to prioritise delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and related supplies in support of the COVAX initiative for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

With its expertise in transporting temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals and with its wide-body capacity and extensive global network, Emirates SkyCargo played an important role in the international movement of COVID-19 vaccines. At one point in April 2021, one in every 20 COVID-19 vaccines administered around the world had flown on an Emirates aircraft.

By December 2021, the cargo carrier had transported a total of 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on its flights to over 80 destinations, one of the largest volumes globally by any airline cargo carrier. 

February: Supporting perishable exports

In February 2021, Emirates SkyCargo showcased its support and commitment for the global food and beverage industry with a dedicated stand at Gulfood 2021, the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade exhibition in Dubai. The move also signalled confidence

Emirates SkyCargo transports close to 600 tonnes of food materials every day on its flights supporting communities reliant on agricultural exports for income and at the same time also ensuring food security at markets reliant on food imports.

The air cargo carrier transported over 265,000 tonnes of perishables and food on its flights in 2021, facilitating an important volume of the global cross-border logistics in the trade of food and other perishables.

March: One year anniversary of cargo-only flights

In March 2021, Emirates SkyCargo marked one year of utilising Emirates Boeing 777 passenger aircraft for cargo-only operations. These cargo flights on passenger aircraft helped supplement available global cargo capacity for Emirates SkyCargo facilitating transport of PPE, food, medicines, electronics, raw materials for manufacturing and several other commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emirates SkyCargo had operated more than 27,800 cargo flights on passenger aircraft between March 2020 and March 2021, the most by any global air carrier.

Throughout the year, Emirates SkyCargo continued to operate cargo flights on its passenger aircraft and mini freighters (passenger aircraft with seats removed from Economy Class), supplementing much needed cargo capacity and transporting goods and commodities seamlessly from origin to destination. The air cargo carrier operated a total of more than 20,000 cargo-only flights on passenger aircraft during 2021.

April: Reinstating global network

By April 2021, Emirates SkyCargo had reinstated its global network for cargo flights to more than 135 destinations across six continents. This represented more than 85% of its pre-pandemic global network. By end of June 2021, Emirates SkyCargo was operating to more than 140 destinations, restoring 90% of its pre-COVID network.

May: Humanitarian assistance through Emirates India Airbridge

In May 2021, Emirates SkyCargo announced that it was establishing a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief items, to support the Indian community to fight the serious COVID-19 situation at that time in the country. The air cargo carrier supported partner organisations including International Humanitarian City and WHO by flying relief materials free of charge to nine destinations in India. More than 100 tonnes of cargo were flown free of charge within the first three weeks of the announcement of the airbridge.

June: Strengthening cool chain infrastructure at Dubai

In June 2021, Emirates SkyCargo expanded its temperature sensitive pharma and vaccine handling capabilities at its EU GDP certified dedicated pharma facility at Dubai International Airport. The air cargo carrier added 94 cool room pallet positions to its existing infrastructure allowing for ore handling capacity for temperature sensitive pharma, including COVID-19 vaccines. The new extension is able to hold an estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at any one time. Emirates SkyCargo’s pharma infrastructure and capabilities include a three tiered specialised product ‘Emirates Pharma’, innovative equipment such as dedicated pharma cool dollies for maintaining unbroken cool chain on the airport ramp as well as enhanced origin to destination temperature protection with its Pharma Corridors programme.

 July: Flying champion horses to and from Tokyo for the Olympics

July 2021 marked the start of one of the largest air charters for the transport of champion horses ever undertaken by Emirates. The carrier flew 316 horses from Liege to Tokyo and 323 horses from Tokyo to Liege concluding more than 18 months of intense planning. 16 dedicated charter flights on Emirates Boeing 777 freighters also transported 157 horse grooms, 160 tonnes of equipment and 336 horse stalls over a seven week period from mid-July.

August: Supporting exports and record breaking operations

With capacity shortfall impacting exports of industrial and consumer supplies across the world, Emirates SkyCargo’s global teams pulled out all stops to operate additional flights to facilitate transport of time sensitive commodities. As an illustration, Emirates SkyCargo’s team in Hanoi, Vietnam, transported more than 4500 tonnes of export cargo from Hanoi on a record breaking 97 cargo flights, handling anywhere between 6-7 flights in a single day, flying a variety of commodities from PPE to electronics and from perishable commodities such as fruit and vegetables to clothing and high fashion.

September: Upgrading customer experience

In order to enhance the user experience and efficiency of its cargo booking process, Emirates SkyCargo partnered with WiseTech Global, a leading provider of software solutions to the logistics industry to provide direct access to its flights and inventory for cargo customers, allowing them to make bookings directly without any other touchpoints. This is part of Emirates SkyCargo’s broader initiatives to provide a richer and more optimised user experience for external and internal customers along with additional digital functionalities.

October: E-commerce

Emirates Delivers, the e-commerce delivery platform developed by Emirates SkyCargo celebrated its second anniversary. The product is aimed at individual and small business customers in the UAE who shop online regularly from the US.

E-commerce was also the focus area of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Emirates SkyCargo signed with Emirates Post in November at the Dubai Airshow. Under the agreement, the two entities will work together to create an end-to-end global logistics platform with its hub in Dubai.

November: Focus on freighters

Emirates SkyCargo outlined its roadmap for 2022-2024 for its freighter fleet at the Dubai Airshow.  The air cargo carrier announced that it had invested US$ 1 billion for acquiring two new freighter aircraft from Boeing as well as for the conversion of four Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft into freighters by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

December: Supporting small businesses

Through its international network, Emirates SkyCargo enables many small businesses across continents to reach a larger global audience. One of the companies that Emirates SkyCargo has been helping is a UAE start-up that has been growing premium oysters in the waters of Dibba Bay. The air cargo carrier facilitates the rapid transportation of this premium produce from the UAE to connoisseurs in markets such as Russia oftentimes within the same day. 

UAE, Dubai, 19 December 2021- Emirates SkyCargo has announced that it has crossed a major milestone in the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines with  600 million doses flown on its flights. Since October 2020, the carrier has transported more than 2.8 million kilograms (2800 tonnes) of COVID-19 vaccines from 35 origins to over 80 destinations.

“Emirates SkyCargo remains committed to the rapid distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to vulnerable communities around the world. When we formulated our COVID-19 distribution strategy in 2020, Emirates SkyCargo prioritised the movement of COVID-19 vaccines through our Dubai hub to developing countries. I’m happy to announce that nearly two thirds of the total vaccines we transported were headed to destinations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. With our extensive reach across six continents, our wide-body capacity and expertise in cool chain logistics, Emirates SkyCargo will continue to be a reliable partner for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the months to come,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

With the increasing roll-out of vaccination and booster campaigns across global markets, Emirates SkyCargo witnessed a steady increase in the demand for transportation of COVID-19 vaccines in the second half of 2021. In October and November 2021 alone, Emirates SkyCargo moved more than 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, almost one third of the total COVID-19 vaccines transported by the carrier since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key highlights of Emirates SkyCargo’s COVID-19 vaccine transportation programme

• Close to 2.8 million kilograms (2800 tonnes) of vaccines transported on Emirates flights, equivalent to nearly 600 million doses since October 2020
• Vaccines flown from 35 origins to 80 destinations across six continents
• 7 million- most number of COVID-19 vaccine doses moved on a single flight
• Asia ( 185 million doses), Africa (150 million doses) and the Middle East (70 million doses) continue to be priority markets for vaccine delivery
• North America and Europe are the main origin regions for COVID-19 vaccines for Emirates SkyCargo
• Emirates SkyCargo’s GDP certified pharma terminal in Chicago has handled more than 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines flown from the US to countries around the world.

Emirates SkyCargo has been a key global player in the air distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and other relief materials and essential commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The air cargo carrier offers sophisticated cool chain solutions for pharmaceutical cargo with Emirates Pharma- a specialised three-tiered air transportation product designed for temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals and backed by Emirates’ state of the art GDP certified pharma infrastructure at its cargo hub in Dubai. In June 2021, Emirates SkyCargo expanded its pharma cool chain infrastructure at Dubai International Airport, allowing it to store an additional estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Emirates SkyCargo offers cargo capacity on more than 2,800 weekly flights connecting more than 140 destinations across six continents.

Dubai, UAE, 15 November 2021 - Emirates SkyCargo, a leader in the global airfreight industry, today announced that it will induct two new Boeing 777Fs into its fleet in 2022 and also convert four of the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft into freighters between 2023 and 2024.

His Highness (HH) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said: “The last two years have put the spotlight on the importance of supply chain connectivity and the availability of air cargo capacity to global communities and economies.

“Emirates plays a key role in making essential goods available to customers and consumers globally through the capacity available on our wide-body fleet, the reach of our global network, and the advanced infrastructure at our Dubai hub. Today, we are delighted to announce an investment of AED 3.6 billion (US$ 1 billion) to further expand our freighter capacity. This underscores our commitment to supporting our customers’ requirements, and reflects our confidence in our future growth and status as one of the largest airline cargo carriers in the world.”

New Boeing 777-Fs

Emirates SkyCargo has signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for two new Boeing 777-F aircraft, which will be delivered in April and June 2022 respectively. Emirates SkyCargo was the launch customer for the Boeing 777-F and the aircraft has been at the heart of the carrier’s operations since 2009. The addition of two new freighter aircraft will strengthen Emirates SkyCargo’s customer offering allowing for increased agility and flexibility in its operations.

Over the years, the Boeing 777 freighter has been a critical pillar of Emirates SkyCargo operations, with the aircraft operating scheduled and charter flights to destinations across six continents. The Boeing 777-F also played an important part of the carrier’s pandemic response, helping deliver vital commodities across the globe. The aircraft’s remarkable range and payload capabilities allow for time and temperature sensitive shipments to be transported rapidly and efficiently from origin to destination.

“We are honored that Emirates has once again placed its confidence in the 777 Freighter as the backbone of its global network,” said Ihssane Mounir, Boeing senior vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing. “As the largest operator of 777 passenger and freighter models worldwide, Emirates’ success is a testament to the 777’s market-leading efficiency, and incredible range."

Boeing 777-300ER conversions

Emirates SkyCargo has signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the conversion of four Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft into full freighters. The agreement also includes an option for further Boeing 777-300ER conversions at a later stage. The conversion programme for the four aircraft will commence in early 2023 and is expected to conclude in 2024 with each aircraft taking up to an estimated five months for the process.

The converted freighters will provide up to 10 additional pallet positions over the Boeing 777-F production freighter allowing for transport of more low density cargo including e-commerce goods. They will boost the maindeck cargo capacity that Emirates SkyCargo can deploy on its global routes, with a particular focus on trade lanes where volumetric cargo loads tend to be high. The converted aircraft’s payload capabilities are very close to those of the Boeing 777-F production freighters and the twin-engine aircraft will be more efficient per tonne of cargo carried than the industry standard freighters.

“IAI is proud to partner with the brightest minds in the region to create solutions to the global demand for cargo aircraft,” said IAI CEO & President, Boaz Levy. “IAI’s Aviation Group, the world’s leader in cargo conversions, is currently converting the first B777-300ER aircraft, together with GECAS, in order to provide the most optimal solution for the rise in e-commerce. Emirates’ decision to select IAI for the conversion of its passenger aircraft to cargo configuration is a testament to IAI's professional capabilities and IAI’s longstanding international recognition in the field.”

In addition to its freighter aircraft, Emirates offers cargo capacity in the bellyhold of its passenger aircraft. During the COVID-19 pandemic, responding to the surging demand from the industry for the transportation of vital goods such as PPE, medical supplies and food in light of the overall reduction in global cargo capacity due to reduced passenger flight operations, Emirates SkyCargo introduced new measures including operating cargo-only flights on its passenger aircraft (passenger freighters) and modifying Boeing 777-300ER aircraft by removing seats from Economy Class to make additional room for cargo (mini-freighters). Emirates SkyCargo currently has a fleet of 16 mini-freighters.

Emirates SkyCargo operated more than 27,800 flights on its passenger freighters and mini-freighters in the one year period from March 2020, transporting more than 100,000 tonnes of essential cargo including medical supplies and food on these flights. With demand for air cargo capacity remaining high, Emirates SkyCargo continues to provide customers the option of transporting cargo on passenger freighters and/ or mini freighters.

About Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo is the airfreight division of Emirates. Through its state of the art hub in Dubai, Emirates SkyCargo transports cargo to over 140 destinations across a global network spanning six continents. The air cargo carrier offers customers cargo capacity on its modern fleet of all widebody Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft. For more information, www.skycargo.com

About Boeing

As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. The company leverages the talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing’s diverse team is committed to innovating for the future and living the company’s core values of safety, quality and integrity. Learn more at www.boeing.com

About Israel Aerospace Industries

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is a world-leading aerospace and defense company innovating and delivering state-of-the-art technologies in space, air, land, naval, cyber & homeland security for defense and commercial markets. Combining the “Start-up Nation” spirit of innovation with decades of combat-proven experience, IAI provides customers with tailor-made, cutting-edge solutions to the unique challenges they face including satellites, UAVs, missiles, intelligence solutions, weapon systems, air defense systems, robotic systems, radars, business jets, aerostructures, and more. Established in 1953, IAI is one of Israel’s largest technology employers with offices and R&D centers in Israel and abroad. For more information, visit https://www.iai.co.il/

 -ends

Dubai, UAE, 26 September 2021- Emirates SkyCargo, the global leader in the air transport of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals, is marking an important operational milestone.

Five years ago, in September 2016, Emirates SkyCargo raised the bar in the air cargo industry for the safe and efficient transport of pharmaceuticals by launching its dedicated GDP certified pharma handling facility at Dubai International Airport and at the same time unveiling its three-tiered specialised product - Emirates Pharma.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: “At Emirates SkyCargo, we recognised very early on that our customers were looking for increasingly specialised solutions for their cargo and this was true especially for valuable and life-saving medicines that have to be transported under very strict conditions. After extensive planning and significant investment to our infrastructure, processes and people, we introduced our 360 degree transportation solution backed by state of the art GDP certified Dubai handling facility for our pharma customers in September 2016. The response from the market was overwhelmingly positive and we managed to very quickly transform the perception that Dubai was a destination to be avoided for pharma cargo in the summer to that of Dubai being a reliable hub for pharma customers all year round. Our pharma volumes have continued to grow over the years and to date we have transported more than 400 million kilos (400, 000 tonnes) of pharma cargo under our Emirates Pharma umbrella.”

Hub Dubai: Emirates SkyCargo has over 20,000 sq. metres of GDP compliant storage and handling space at its hub in Dubai processing close to 200,000 kilos (200 tonnes) of pharmaceuticals every single day comprising vaccines, biologics, medicines for illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and a range of other medical treatments.

Emirates SkyCargo’s pharma operations in Dubai have undergone rigorous evaluation for compliance to GDP guidelines by Bureau Veritas, Germany including two full certification cycles involving multiple certification and surveillance audits. Emirates SkyCargo’s pharma operations have also successfully undergone multiple audits conducted by customers and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The carrier has one of the world’s largest fleet of Cool Dollys which help maintain cargo at a stable temperature between aircraft and terminal. Close to 50 of these Cool Dollys are dedicated for pharmaceutical cargo. Emirates SkyCargo also works with a number of specialised container providers in order to offer customers a better choice and fit for their shipping needs.

Building connections to deliver cures: The establishment of a world class transportation hub for pharmaceuticals at Dubai by Emirates SkyCargo has facilitated the rapid and secure transport of pharmaceutical products from manufacturing locations to end destinations. Over the years, the carrier has been able to connect increasing volumes of pharma cargo between markets spread across six continents including India, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, UK, Russia, United States, Brazil, Australia, Korea, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Nearly one third of the total pharma cargo exported on Emirates SkyCargo every year originates from India.

Emirates SkyCargo has also worked with ground handlers across more than 35 leading pharma origin and destination airports to ensure high standards of pharma handling from origin to destination. In Chicago, one of the major pharma stations in the Emirates SkyCargo network, the carrier worked closely with the local ground handler for developing a GDP certified airside pharmaceutical handling facility spread over 1000 sq. metres. Pharma operations at Copenhagen, another important pharma station were also moved to a dedicated GDP certified facility in 2019.

COVID-19 pandemic: During the pandemic, it became even more essential for Emirates SkyCargo to maintain the supply chain across the world for pharmaceutical products, for treatment of COVID-19 and other illnesses. By deploying an increasing number of cargo only flights on passenger aircraft, Emirates SkyCargo offered continued connectivity for the transport of urgently required pharmaceuticals.

As early as August 2020, Emirates SkyCargo commenced preparations to make its hub fit for purpose for the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines. More recently, the carrier expanded its cool room infrastructure with 94 airline pallet positions at its EU GDP certified dedicated pharma facility at Dubai International Airport. The extended cool room provides additional capacity in a temperature controlled environment (2-25 degrees Celsius), allowing for the equivalent of between additional 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be stored at any one point of time.

Between October 2020 and September 2021, Emirates SkyCargo has transported more than 250 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 75 destinations through its hub in Dubai.

As part of the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance, Emirates SkyCargo joined hands with DP World, International Humanitarian City and Dubai Airports to combine expertise and strengths to expedite the movement of vaccines to developing nations through Dubai. The carrier also entered into an MoU with UNICEF to facilitate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in support of the COVAX facility for equitable distribution of vaccines. In May 2021, Emirates SkyCargo set up the Emirates India Humanitarian Airbridge and donated cargo capacity to transport essential supplies including oxygen cylinders, concentrators and relief tents free of charge on flights from Dubai to Indian destinations to help the Indian community battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dubai, UAE, 15 July 2021- As the eyes of sporting enthusiasts around the world turn to Tokyo, a group of very special champions are making their way to the Japanese capital on special flights operated by Emirates.

Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates is operating eight charter flights to fly 247 horses from Liege to Tokyo. The first flight with 36 dressage horses has already landed at Haneda airport, Tokyo. Emirates will be operating an additional eight flights for the return journey from Tokyo to Liege. The carrier is working with Peden Bloodstock, a leading international horse transportation specialist for this charter.

During the flights, the horses will be comfortably settled inside specially designed horse stalls. Emirates SkyCargo will be flying 131 horse stalls to transport the 247 horses. In addition, 59 grooms will also be flying with the horses on the eight flights to ensure that the horses are well cared for, fed and watered during the journey from Liege to Haneda via a brief stopover in Dubai. Emirates will be transporting 20 tonnes of inflight food and drink for the horses along with 100 tonnes of special equipment for the onward journey from Liege.

Emirates has decades of experience in transporting horses across six continents for international sporting events. Emirates is also the title sponsor of a number of prestigious global horse racing tournaments and is a sponsor of Godolphin, the world’s leading horse racing team.

Emirates has a fleet of modern Boeing 777 freighter aircraft and a well-trained team to ensure that horses have a comfortable and stress free flight experience. Emirates SkyCargo complies with regulations set out by national and international authorities on live animal transport including IATA Live Animals regulations (LAR).

For further details on the transportation of the horses, please visit FEI's media centre.

Dubai, UAE, 08 June 2021- Emirates SkyCargo is further strengthening its temperature sensitive pharma and vaccine handling capabilities in Dubai with the extension of its fully automated cool room with 94 airline pallet positions at its EU GDP certified dedicated pharma facility at Dubai International Airport.

The extended cool room will provide an additional 2600 square metres of temperature controlled environment (2-25 degrees Celsius) for the storage and handling of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals at Emirates SkyCargo’s purpose built GDP certified facility, reinforcing the carrier’s position as an industry leader for the air transportation of pharmaceuticals and providing additional capacity at its Dubai hub to meet the growing demand for transportation of COVID-19 vaccines. The new extension can hold an estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at one time.

Transportation of COVID-19 vaccines

Emirates SkyCargo continues to play a leading role in the international distribution of COVID-19 vaccines having transported over 75 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on more than 250 flights to over 60 destinations since late 2020.

“Emirates SkyCargo is proud to have flown over 350 tonnes of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, delivering much needed support to communities that are still heavily impacted by the current wave of the pandemic. However, we are always looking ahead and we anticipate that there will be an increase in demand to transport vaccines to developing nations during the second half of the year. Already, we have seen a ramping up of COVID-19 vaccine volumes that were transported over the last few weeks in line with increased manufacturing. We expect to reach the 100 million doses milestone well before the end of this month,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

“The last six months have been a valuable and mutual learning experience for Emirates SkyCargo and as well for pharmaceutical manufacturers and our logistics partners. We have been able to apply these learnings to make the process of vaccine transportation faster and more efficient, providing a valuable boost to the next phase of COVID-19 vaccine transportation, as well as for other temperature sensitive pharma products in the future” added Sultan.

Emirates SkyCargo was one of the first air cargo carriers to begin extensive preparations during the early stages of the pandemic for the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines. In October 2020, the carrier announced the setting up of a dedicated GDP certified airside hub in Dubai for transporting COVID-19 vaccines. The carrier has over 20,000 sq metres of EU GDP certified cool chain infrastructure for storing and handling COVID-19 vaccines in Dubai. Emirates SkyCargo also has more than 50 cool dollies dedicated for pharmaceuticals at its hub protecting temperature sensitive shipments such as vaccines during transit between the aircraft and the cargo terminal.

In January 2021, Emirates SkyCargo joined hands with DP World, International Humanitarian City and Dubai Airports to form the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance aimed at rapidly transporting COVID-19 vaccines through Dubai to developing countries. This was shortly followed up in February 2021 with an MoU with UNICEF to expedite the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX initiative.

In addition to COVID-19 vaccines, Emirates SkyCargo has transported thousands of tonnes of other essential commodities such as PPE, pharmaceuticals and related supplies on its flights. The carrier recently set up a humanitarian airbridge initiative to transport urgent COVID-19 relief items to India. Under the initiative, the air cargo is offering any available cargo capacity on its flights from Dubai to nine destinations in India, free of charge for NGOs for transporting medical and relief items.

Dubai, UAE, 01 April 2021- In the run up to World Health Day (7 April), Emirates SkyCargo has become the first airline cargo carrier in the world to have transported more than 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on its flights. The carrier has also transported more than 100 tonnes of syringes across the world to support the delivery of vaccines.

Since the start of international distribution late last year, Emirates SkyCargo has transported over 220 tonnes of COVID-19 vaccines, equivalent to more than 50 million doses, on more than 150 flights from manufacturing locations to 50 destinations on its network through Dubai. Overall, the carrier has transported six different kinds of COVD-19 vaccines.

Watch a video about Emirates SkyCargo's COVID-19 vaccine distribution milestone. 

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: “Emirates SkyCargo is proud to have reached the 50 million COVID-19 vaccine delivery milestone just ahead of World Health Day. As a socially responsible global air cargo carrier, our actions over the last year have always been directed at helping communities across the world, and especially those in developing nations, recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic. We have been leading the global air cargo industry’s efforts and working with our partner organisations in Dubai to rapidly distribute COVID-19 vaccines through Dubai to the rest of the world.”

Emirates SkyCargo has remained agile and dynamic throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, responding quickly to maintain international connectivity for essential goods across the world. The carrier was one of the first in the world to deploy passenger aircraft for cargo only flights in order to transport PPE, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and food. Over one year, Emirates SkyCargo had operated more than 27,800 flights and transported over 100,000 tonnes of essential commodities.

As early as October 2020, Emirates SkyCargo set up an EU GDP certified dedicated airside hub for distribution of COVID-19 vaccines at its hub in Dubai. With its sophisticated infrastructure and extensive storage capacity, Emirates SkyCargo positioned itself to fly in large quantities of COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturing locations, store the vaccines in Dubai and then regularly replenish vaccine supplies to developing nations with limited cold chain infrastructure through its cargo flights.

In January 2021, Emirates SkyCargo joined hands with leading Dubai-based entities, DP World, International Humanitarian City and Dubai Airports to form the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance to harness the strategic strengths of Dubai as a major global distribution hub for COVID-19 vaccines. In February 2021, Emirates SkyCargo signed an MoU with UNICEF to prioritise transportation of COVID-19 vaccines in support of the COVAX facility which is aimed at equitable global distribution of vaccines.

With its fleet of modern and efficient all wide-body aircraft and a network that currently spans more than 130 destinations across six continents, combined with the strategic geographic location of its state of the art GDP certified Dubai hub, Emirates SkyCargo is a key global player in the secure and rapid global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Dubai, UAE, 16 March 2021- On Monday, 16 March 2020, Emirates flight EK 2503 took off from Dubai to Kuwait. Although operated on a Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft, EK 2503 carried no passengers but about 34 tonnes of bellyhold cargo that was urgently required in Kuwait.

It was the first time in the history of its operations that Emirates had operated a cargo only flight on a passenger aircraft. Coming just four days after COVID-19 had been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), EK 2503 would be the first of more than 27,800 cargo flights to be operated by Emirates SkyCargo in the year that followed as the cargo carrier worked ceaselessly to keep communities across the world connected to the essential medical and food supplies they needed during the pandemic.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo said: “It has been exactly one year since what was considered impossible in the air cargo industry became not just a reality but a strong operational pillar for Emirates SkyCargo. Prior to the pandemic, nearly two thirds of our total cargo was transported in the bellyhold of our passenger flights. With increasing flight suspensions and restrictions on passenger travel imposed due to COVID-19 in early March 2020, we could foresee a situation where there would no longer be adequate cargo capacity available in the market to transport essential supplies.

“In order to bolster the cargo capacity offered by our 11 Boeing 777 freighters and make sure that we could meet the urgent demand for goods such as PPE, ventilators and other pharmaceutical goods and food supplies from across the world, we proactively made a radical and innovative plan to utilise our widebody passenger aircraft to operate cargo only flights. We trialled this passenger freighter concept with a flight to Kuwait on 16^th March last year. Over the next few weeks, as regular passenger operations were completely suspended, we started increasing our passenger freighter flights to a point where we had close to 90 passenger aircraft being used for cargo operations.

“Our team worked tirelessly to flesh out a new business model from the ground up- seeking approvals from authorities, drawing up a new route network, drafting new operational and safety guidelines and speaking to our customers around the world – to make sure that as a socially responsible carrier, we were able to maintain essential supplies of cargo into markets and at the same time sustain exports around the world in challenging economic conditions.

“Our passenger freighter strategy has been the backbone of our operations during the pandemic transporting cargo to more than 125 destinations across six continents. It has showcased our resilience as a global facilitator of trade and supply chains. With resumption and growth in passenger operations, we have started gradually moving towards our traditional model but our passenger freighters continue to remain a strong component of the COVID-19 pandemic response.”

To meet the global demand for transport of PPE and essential supplies, Emirates SkyCargo followed up on the introduction of passenger freighter services with further innovations including the loading of cargo on passenger seats and in overhead bins inside the passenger cabin and introducing ‘mini freighters’ which were Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with seats removed from Economy Class to make more room for transporting cargo. Emirates SkyCargo currently has 16 Boeing 777-300ER mini-freighters for cargo operations.

Emirates SkyCargo has operated more than 27,800 cargo only flights on passenger aircraft during the last year. These flights have helped transport more than 100,000 tonnes of essential supplies including PPE, COVID-19 testing kits, ventilators, pharmaceuticals, vaccines and food. This is the equivalent of cargo carried over 1000 full flights on the Boeing 777 freighter aircraft.

Emirates SkyCargo’s flights helped maintain food security in a number of import reliant markets while also providing an income stream to communities dependent on agricultural exports. The air cargo carrier also operated a record number of charter flights using passenger aircraft exclusively to transport cargo.

Emirates SkyCargo has been leading the global air cargo industry’s response for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The air cargo carrier has set up a dedicated GDP certified airside hub in Dubai for COVID-19 vaccines and has also partnered with leading Dubai based entities and with UNICEF for the rapid transport of COVID-19 vaccines to developing nations through Dubai. Emirates SkyCargo’s passenger freighters have also played a key role in the transport of COVID-19 vaccines.

Dubai, UAE, 16 February 2021- Emirates SkyCargo has signed an agreement with UNICEF to prioritise the transport of COVID-19 vaccines, essential medicines, medical devices and other critical supplies to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement is the latest in a series of measures undertaken by the freight division of Emirates to support global communities in recovering from the devastating impact of COVID-19.

Watch a video announcing Emirates SkyCargo's participation in UNICEF's initiative.

The Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative spearheaded by UNICEF brings together a number of partners collectively capable of distributing essential supplies to more than 100 markets in support of the COVAX Facility, the global effort aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. UNICEF’s Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative will also act as a blueprint for collective global partnership in the face of future health and humanitarian crises.

“Every single day counts in the fight against COVID-19 and the sooner that communities can have access to COVID-19 vaccines, the sooner they can curb the spread of the virus and get back on their feet. As a global player flying to more than 130 destinations, Emirates SkyCargo has been committed to the fight against the pandemic from the very early stages and we have rolled out a number of initiatives to expedite the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines through Dubai, starting with our GDP certified dedicated airside hub. Through our partnership with UNICEF, we will be taking yet another step to prioritise and facilitate the rapid and secure movement of COVID-19 vaccines particularly to communities hard hit by the disease,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

Emirates SkyCargo is an industry leader in the air cargo sector for the transport of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals including vaccines. The cargo carrier features a global network spanning six continents, a modern fleet of widebody only aircraft as well as state of the art EU GDP certified infrastructure at its hub in Dubai for the secure transport of pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

In October 2020, Emirates SkyCargo announced that it was setting up the world’s largest EU GDP certified airside distribution hub dedicated for the storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. With over 15,000 sq metres of storage space available for vaccines, Emirates SkyCargo is able to store large quantities of the COVID-19 vaccine in Dubai, and fly in smaller quantities regularly to markets with limited cold chain infrastructure, reducing the need for large scale storage solutions.

In January 2021, under the directives of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emirates SkyCargo joined hands with three other Dubai-based entities- DP World, International Humanitarian City and Dubai Airports to form a COVID-19 vaccine alliance for rapid transport of COVID-19 vaccines to the developing world through Dubai.

For more information on UNICEF's Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative: click here

Combined expertise, along with global air routes, sea ports and logistics networks, will speed up vaccine deployment, especially to developing countries

Dubai’s vaccine storage and distribution facilities ramped up, building on existing position as a global hub for the pharmaceutical industry

Dubai, UAE, 31 January 2021- Under the directives of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai today launched the Vaccine Logistics Alliance to speed up distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world through the emirate.

In support of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX initiative and its efforts to equitably distribute two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, the Dubai Vaccines Logistics Alliance combines the expertise and global reach of Emirates airline with DP World’s worldwide network of ports and logistics operations, along with the infrastructure of Dubai Airports and International Humanitarian City to distribute vaccines worldwide. The distribution will particularly focus on emerging markets, where populations have been hard-hit by the pandemic, and pharmaceutical transport and logistics are challenging.

The alliance is working with a broader set of stakeholders including pharmaceutical manufacturers, forwarders, government agencies and other entities for transportation of vaccines.

Watch an introductory video about the alliance here. 

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group said: “We currently stand at the cusp of a historic moment with the rollout of vaccines for countering COVID-19, a pandemic that has disrupted the lives of people around the world. The UAE is leading the world in terms of rolling out the vaccine, and in line with HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s vision to facilitate a global solution for the wellbeing of communities, the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance brings together key organisations to expedite the worldwide transport of urgently needed vaccines through Dubai.

Sheikh Ahmed added: “Each alliance partner brings to the table a specific and complementary set of strengths and capabilities in vaccine distribution, allowing us to build a 360-degree solution that harnesses the combined logistical and infrastructural advantages of Dubai as a hub. Together, we are able to store a large volume of vaccine doses at a time and bring in and distribute vaccines to any point around the world within 48 hours.”

International Humanitarian City, the world’s largest hub for humanitarian logistics based in Dubai will be a vital partner in the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance bringing its vast expertise in humanitarian logistics for aid materials such as food and medicine in markets with limited infrastructure. IHC and Emirates SkyCargo have already partnered on many humanitarian cargo flights and earlier in 2020, also signed an MoU for closer collaboration for humanitarian assistance flights.

HE Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, the Chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Supervision of International Humanitarian City, said: “Under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, International Humanitarian City, based in Dubai, has evolved to become the largest humanitarian hub in the world, playing a pivotal role in facilitating first responses to humanitarian crises across the globe. Since the current global crisis began, the IHC has facilitated the distribution of over 80% of the WHO’s global medical response in the fight against COVID-19.”

“Dubai will make sure this fight continues with the Vaccine Logistics Alliance transporting urgently needed vaccines and medical supplies to the most vulnerable communities across the world, when they need it most. We are all responsible for doing what we can to end this pandemic.”

DP World, a leader in global supply chain solutions with ports, terminals and logistics operations on every continent, is joining Dubai’s initiative to transport, store and distribute COVID-19 vaccines. DP World logistics operations will facilitate the collection of vaccines from manufacturing sites in places like Europe, the US and India and deliver them to airports, seaports and dryports for onward transportation. DP World’s global, GDP-compliant, network of warehousing and distribution hubs will be used to store vaccines for time and temperature sensitive distribution to hospitals and clinics. DP World will deploy its track-and-trace technology, such as Cargoes Flow, to give real-time information on the location of shipments, and continual temperature control and monitoring. DP World’s ports and terminals, including Jebel Ali in Dubai which is one the largest in the world, will be used to ship, store and distribute medical devices, such as syringes and wipes.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World, said: “Humanity will only defeat coronavirus if vaccines can be distributed everywhere. Dubai’s position as a global hub means we have a responsibility to combine our infrastructure and capabilities for this common goal. DP World has kept trade flowing throughout the pandemic ensuring countries received the vital supplies they need. We are proud to use our ports, terminals and smart logistics operations to distribute vaccines and medical devices to contribute to fighting the pandemic.”

On Wednesday, DP World and UNICEF also announced a wide-ranging partnership to support the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and related immunisation supplies in low- and lower-middle-income countries. The new partnership - with a multi-million dollar value - is the largest to date to support UNICEF’s lead role in procuring and supplying 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines and auxiliary vaccination supplies on behalf of the COVAX Facility. 

Emirates SkyCargo is a global leader in the air transportation of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals, including vaccines. The air cargo carrier has over two decades of experience in transporting pharmaceuticals across the world and has developed extensive infrastructure and capabilities for the secure and rapid transportation of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals.

“Emirates SkyCargo has taken a global leadership position during the COVID-19 pandemic for the distribution of medical supplies and PPE. We recently activated the world’s largest airside hub dedicated to the storage and global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines at Dubai South. With our modern wide-body aircraft fleet, our network reaching more than 135 cities across six continents including major pharma hubs, and our expertise in handling pharma shipments, we are well placed to work with our partners in the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance in order to make sure that the COVID-19 vaccines are reaching every corner of the globe, especially cities in emerging markets,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

Emirates SkyCargo has over 15,000 square metres of cool chain space for pharmaceuticals across its terminals in Dubai and has already had a head start for COVID-19 vaccine logistics, having already moved COVID-19 vaccines on its flights during the month of December.

Dubai Airports, operator of Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC), will be contributing to the efforts of the newly formed Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance by providing additional space at dedicated facilities at Dubai International (DXB). The repurposed cargo facilities will act as storage for COVID-19 vaccines that will be transported through its interlinked operations at DXB and DWC. Working closely with Emirates SkyCargo and Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Airports will ensure that the additional capacity for vaccine storage meets all the stringent regulatory guidelines for transportation of COVID-19 vaccines, and that related processes are streamlined with stakeholders and business partners.

CEO of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, said; “Dubai’s central location means it is easily accessible to almost 80% of the world’s population within just four hours, making the decision to join forces and develop the world’s preeminent distribution hub a very strategic one. Over the coming months, there will undoubtedly be a major surge in demand for the efficient, safe and reliable global distribution of high volumes of COVID-19 vaccines, and we wanted to be ready to respond to and accommodate that demand. This alliance is timed perfectly and will not only support a global need, but also support the future of travel.”

Dubai, UAE, 23 December 2020- Emirates SkyCargo has notched yet another milestone by flying in COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech to the UAE for the first time for the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). The vaccines were transported from Brussels on Emirates flight EK 182 on 22 December 2020, arriving at Dubai International Airport (DXB) at 22.15 local time.

Watch a video of the vaccines arriving in Dubai here. 

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Group said: “Emirates is proud to be transporting the first batch of Pfizer vaccines for COVID-19 into the UAE for the Dubai Health Authority. Our healthcare ecosystem has played an absolutely critical role in every step of the fight against COVID-19. I would like to thank everyone who has worked unceasingly over the last year to protect the lives of those most vulnerable against the disease. In recognition of their immense contribution for the wellbeing of everyone in the UAE, it has been our honour to transport these vaccines free of charge on our flight.”

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo said: “At Emirates SkyCargo we are doing our part to join Dubai’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the effective management of the pandemic by Dubai’s visionary leadership, the city has retained its position as a global logistical hub for connecting vital cargo including PPE, medical supplies, vaccines, food and other essential items. Emirates SkyCargo has set up the world’s largest airside hub dedicated to distributing COVID-19 vaccines and we stand ready to support not just Dubai, but countries around the world, including markets with limited cool chain infrastructure with our advanced capabilities. By transporting COVID-19 vaccines across our extensive network, we look forward to helping people around the world get back on their feet after the devastating impact of the pandemic.”

On arrival at DXB, the containers with the vaccines were unloaded on priority from the aircraft and then taken to Emirates SkyCargo’s dedicated pharma facility Emirates SkyPharma to await clearance for delivery.

Emirates SkyCargo is no stranger to transporting vaccines and other temperature sensitive pharmaceutical cargo. The carrier has more than two decades experience in transporting pharmaceuticals on its aircraft and has set up state of the art EU GDP certified facilities dedicated for storing and handling pharma cargo in Dubai. Emirates SkyCargo has also established a global Pharma Corridors programme working with ground handlers and local airports at major pharma origin and destination stations for enhanced cool chain protection. The current pharma network covers over 30 cities across the world including Brussels.

More recently, Emirates SkyCargo has set up the world’s largest dedicated airside storage and distribution hub for COVID-19 vaccines in Dubai with the capacity to store up to an estimated 10 million doses of vaccine at the 2-8C temperature range at any one point of time. With its advanced infrastructure, extensive network and modern all wide-body aircraft fleet, Emirates SkyCargo can transport COVID-19 vaccines rapidly and securely from manufacturing locations to destinations across six continents. Emirates SkyCargo has already commenced distribution of COVID-19 vaccines from a range of manufacturers and geographies.

Dubai, UAE, 11 Nov 2020- Emirates SkyCargo has started utilising its Airbus A380 aircraft on select cargo charter operations to transport urgently required cargo across its network. The first dedicated Emirates A380 ‘mini-freighter’ successfully transported medical supplies between Seoul and Amsterdam via Dubai.

Working collaboratively with the Engineering and Flight Operations teams within Emirates, the air cargo carrier has optimised the cargo capacity of the Airbus A380 to safely transport around 50 tonnes of cargo per flight in the bellyhold of the aircraft.

Emirates SkyCargo has introduced dedicated cargo operations on the A380 aircraft in response to the surge in the demand for air cargo capacity required for the urgent transportation of critical goods, including medical supplies for combatting COVID-19 in regions experiencing a second wave of the pandemic.

Emirates SkyCargo is working on further optimising the capacity of its Airbus A380 aircraft through measures such as seat loading of cargo and has planned more dedicated cargo flights on aircraft for the month of November.

A leading player in the global air cargo industry with a destination network spread across six continents, Emirates SkyCargo has continued to introduce innovative cargo solutions in line with rapidly evolving market conditions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The freight division of Emirates offers a variety of options for cargo capacity and connectivity to best match its customers’ requirements. Emirates SkyCargo operates dedicated cargo flights on its Boeing 777-F and its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft including 14 modified Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft with seats removed from Economy Class for additional cargo volume.

Through its responsiveness and agility, the air cargo carrier has been able to maintain the flow of essential goods and trade across international markets during the pandemic, often providing a much required helpline to communities around the world.

Taking a lead in the supply chain for the global distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, Emirates SkyCargo announced recently that it set up the world’s largest EU GDP compliant airside hub in Dubai dedicated for the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition to world-class fit for purpose infrastructure for the storage of the vaccine, the facility would also be able to offer value added services such as repackaging, re-icing and redistribution of the vaccine. The air cargo carrier has also set up a rapid response team to coordinate requests for the movement of the vaccine.

Emirates SkyCargo currently offers cargo capacity on scheduled flights to 135 destinations across the world.

Dubai, UAE, 22 October 2020- Emirates SkyCargo is stepping up its readiness to handle the logistical complexities of distributing a potential COVID-19 vaccine globally by creating the world’s first dedicated airside cargo hub for the vaccine in Dubai. The air cargo carrier is taking a global leadership position by announcing that it will be re-opening its Emirates SkyCentral DWC cargo terminal in Dubai South to serve as a dedicated anchor hub for cold chain storage and distribution of the vaccine.

Watch a video about Emirates SkyCargo setting up the world's largest GDP compliant airside hub for COVID-19 vaccine distribution. 

The freight division of Emirates has also set up a dedicated rapid response team to coordinate requests from the various partners involved in the international vaccine distribution ecosystem and to streamline the carrier’s response to vaccine transportation requests.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive said: “Dubai is well positioned to serve as a gateway and distribution hub for COVID-19 vaccines to the rest of the world. We have the infrastructure and logistics connections, and a geographic location that puts markets representing more than two-thirds of the world’s population within an 8-hour flying radius. Over the years, through our continuous investment in capabilities and processes for the transport of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals, Emirates SkyCargo has managed to position Dubai amongst major global pharmaceutical customers as the year-round preferred point of transit for their valuable cargo. Setting up a dedicated airside hub for COVID-19 vaccines is a keystone project harnessing our network, reach and competencies to positively impact the lives of people around the world.”

World’s first dedicated airside hub for COVID-19 vaccine

Emirates SkyCargo’s vaccine hub in Dubai South will be the largest dedicated airside facility in the world for COVID-19 vaccines. The Dubai hub will allow the air cargo carrier to fly in vaccines from manufacturing sites globally, store and prepare shipments for regional and global distribution.

Emirates SkyCentral DWC has over 4,000 square metres of temperature controlled GDP certified dedicated pharma storage area allowing for large scale storage and distribution of the potential COVID-19 vaccines. Overall, it is estimated that the facility can hold around 10 million vials of vaccine at a 2-8 degrees Celsius temperature range at any one point of time.

The state of the art infrastructure at Emirates SkyCentral DWC is also complemented by one of the world’s largest fleet of Cool Dollys helping protect temperature sensitive cargo during transit between the aircraft and cargo terminal. Additionally, the availability of a large number of temperature controlled trucking docks and the proximity of the terminal to the aircraft parking gates will ensure rapid and efficient clearance of cargo for further distribution.

In addition to cold storage, Emirates SkyCargo will also offer dedicated zones for value-added services such as re-icing and repackaging of vaccines for global distribution for its customers.

The extensive size of the facility, which can potentially handle millions of vaccine doses, along with the creation of a dedicated team to handle and execute requests will allow Emirates SkyCargo to be able to effectively handle the large volume of time critical requests for cross-border vaccine movement that will follow the successful introduction of a vaccine.

Through a combination of scheduled and charter flights, the cargo carrier will then be able to fly the vaccines to markets where they will be most needed.

Emirates’ pharma transportation capabilities

Emirates SkyCargo is harnessing decades of experience gained from transporting temperature controlled pharmaceutical products and vaccines for global manufacturers to develop innovative solutions that will meet the challenge of distributing a potential COVID-19 vaccine globally within a short timeframe.

Since 2016, the air cargo carrier has invested substantially in its capabilities for the transportation of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals. This included the introduction of a specialised product – Emirates Pharma - and the development of dedicated GDP certified ‘fit for purpose’ infrastructure pharma both at Dubai as well as at major origin and destination points under its pharma corridors programme that currently covers more than 30 cities. Emirates SkyCargo has moved more than a quarter million tonnes of pharmaceutical cargo in the last four years.

With its fleet of modern and efficient all wide-body aircraft and a network that currently spans more than 130 destinations across six continents, combined with the strategic geographic location of its Dubai hub, Emirates SkyCargo will be able to rapidly move vaccine shipments from manufacturing sites to the vaccine hub and then onwards to the rest of the world on a combination of scheduled and passenger flights.

Over the last few months, however, Emirates SkyCargo has worked on restoring its worldwide network and cargo connectivity with flight services restored to 75 destinations by May, 100 by July and nearly 135 destinations by early October. Emirates SkyCargo’s network covers all major pharmaceutical clusters and manufacturing locations, facilitating the eventual transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine once manufacturing commences.

In Kenya, Emirates’ 10 weekly flights in October 2020 from Nairobi airport transport, among other commodities, fresh fruits and vegetables such as green beans, pineapples, mangoes and avocadoes. The produce arrives in Dubai and then gets distributed to other regional markets in the Middle East and onwards to Europe.

Emirates’ flights taking off from Australia and New Zealand carry meat and a range of fruits including grapes and watermelons heading towards international markets.

Coconuts and jackfruit from Thailand, mangoes from India, sweet potatoes from Egypt, blueberries from the UK, cheese from France and Italy, salmon from Norway, cherries from Chile, seafood from Pakistan, bakery products from the Netherlands and tropical fruits from Vietnam are just a limited selection of the food items that travel every day on Emirates’ flights across its global network of more than 130 destinations across six continents.

Consumers across the world have integrated international ingredients and produce into their daily diets for taste and nutritional reasons. Members of international diaspora also look for comfort food offerings from their home countries in supermarket shelves. With Emirates SkyCargo’s global network and flight schedule, food items from diverse origins retain their freshness as they are rapidly transported to their final destinations and the dining tables of consumers.

The growth of export markets over the last decade has also provided a boost to farming communities and agriculture in the various production markets. Emirates SkyCargo’s flights provide a quick and direct connection for farmers and exporters of food items to their international end customers, thereby supporting their livelihoods and the local economy.

With every new destination, Emirates SkyCargo opens up one more potential trade lane for food products across the world. As an example, Emirates SkyCargo, through its direct flights, helped create a market for tropical fruits from Vietnam in the Middle East and exports of these products increased nearly five-fold in just one year in 2017.

With COVID-19 and the disruption to international passenger aviation, the supply chain for food products was put into risk of disruption. However, Emirates SkyCargo worked very quickly to restore its international cargo connectivity, growing its network from just around 35 destinations on its freighter aircraft at the end of March to more than 130 destinations by early October on its freighter as well as passenger aircraft. Currently around 500 tonnes of food items are transported every day in the cargo hold of Emirates aircraft across the world.

As a socially responsible carrier, Emirates SkyCargo has ensured that adequate cargo capacity remains available on its widebody aircraft during the COVID-19 pandemic for the transport of urgent medical supplies as well as food items. By doing this, the air cargo carrier is able to help countries and supermarkets maintain their food supplies and at the same time help farmers reliant on food exports continue to make their livelihoods in these challenging times.

Dubai, UAE, 23 September 2020- Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates and International Humanitarian City (IHC), the world’s largest hub for humanitarian aid, have signed an MoU to cooperate on humanitarian logistics and crisis relief solutions. The MoU was signed by Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo and Giuseppe Saba, CEO, International Humanitarian City.

The partnership between the two entities underlines Dubai’s position as an international gateway for the rapid deployment of aid and relief efforts directed at humanitarian crises.

Under the terms of the MoU, Emirates SkyCargo and IHC will work together to develop innovative logistics solutions for effective crisis relief operations. IHC will also approach Emirates SkyCargo as the air cargo carrier of first resort for transportation or urgently required aid materials to affected destinations. In addition, the two organisations will work together to share know-how and develop best practices around the transportation of specialised cargo for relief efforts.

“We are a carrier with a strong sense of social responsibility. Over the years, Emirates SkyCargo has operated a number of flights and transported relief cargo on behalf of International Humanitarian City in response to humanitarian disasters and crises around the world, including most recently in the aftermath of the explosions at Beirut. Today, we are delighted to consolidate our partnership and develop a platform which will enable a more coherent and rapid response for aid delivery, and facilitate the development of robust and innovative solutions for humanitarian emergency response. With our wide-body aircraft fleet and our global network centred in Dubai, we look forward to supporting International Humanitarian City as their preferred carrier for delivering aid to affected communities around the globe,” said Nabil Sultan.

“I would like first to express all of my appreciation to Emirates SkyCargo for their support in the past for IHC and its community,” said Giuseppe Saba. “A special thanks goes to the leadership of Emirates for the initiative taken immediately after the blast in Beirut, by launching the initiative for supporting the Lebanese population and facilitating many airlifts of humanitarian aid with favourable rates. I’m honoured to sign this MoU, which is a milestone for further expansion of new possibilities which started with the Lebanon initiative. It transforms our cooperation into something which goes beyond the use of the air assets and the large reach of Emirates SkyCargo, which still logistically represents a crucial worldwide network for the IHC Community in emergency response. The high standards and excellent service delivery of Emirates SkyCargo will continue to add a lot of value to the IHC community crisis response mechanism and our synergies will enable us to work together for One Humanity,” he added.

During the month of August, Emirates launched a humanitarian initiative, creating an airbridge between Dubai and Beirut to facilitate transportation of aid material in the aftermath of the explosions at the Port of Beirut. Emirates continues to work with local and international NGOs including the IHC for this relief effort, which is also supported by worldwide donations of cash and Emirates Skywards Miles from across the globe through the Emirates Airline Foundation.

About Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo is a global connector of essential goods and a facilitator of international trade through its cargo flights across six continents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo responded quickly to build its network of global cargo destinations, serving as a seamless conveyor belt for a range of commodities from urgently required PPE, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, food and other essential goods. Currently Emirates SkyCargo operates weekly scheduled flights to more than 120 destinations on its wide-body fleet of aircraft including 11 Boeing 777-Fs.

About International Humanitarian City

Founded in 2003, IHC is the only Non-Profit Free Zone Authority and is hosting approx. 80 members between Humanitarian Organisations and Commercial Companies. IHC and its community have developed special projects such as the Humanitarian Logistics data bank, Flash media studio, and established partnerships with Academic institution looking into innovation and transfer of knowledge for the preparation of the future humanitarian workers. www.ihc.ae

Emirates SkyCargo’s network expansion is in response to the growing economic activity and demand for air cargo capacity from markets across the world along with Emirates’ increased passenger flight operations. By offering multiple daily or weekly cargo flight frequencies to major production and consumer markets, the carrier is helping facilitate supplies of goods required for combatting the current pandemic as well as machinery and equipment required for manufacturing and several key economic sectors across global trade lanes.

In addition to scheduled services, Emirates SkyCargo also operates a number of special charter flights every week to transport a range of commodities from Personal Protective Supplies (PPE) and pharmaceuticals to food and outsized machinery and components.

The freight division of Emirates offers an innovative range of cargo capacity options for businesses and exporters on its modern, wide-body aircraft fleet. In addition to loading of cargo in the belly hold, Emirates SkyCargo has introduced loading of select cargo on the passenger seats and in the overhead bins of the passenger cabin of its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Recently the carrier also modified 10 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from its fleet by removing seats from the Economy Class in the passenger cabin to make room for additional cargo. Emirates SkyCargo also operates 11 Boeing 777 F full freighters currently deployed to over 30 destinations every week.

Emirates SkyCargo places a strong emphasis on the safety of operations. Working with its partners, including ground handlers, the carrier has introduced a number of strict guidelines on cabin loading of cargo covering the type of permitted cargo as well as proper packaging and handling in accordance with IATA guidelines.

Dubai, UAE, 25 June 2020- Emirates has introduced additional cargo capacity by using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with seats removed from the Economy Class cabin. The measure has been introduced in response to the strong air cargo market demand for the rapid, reliable and efficient transportation of essential commodities such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, food, machinery and other supplies around the world.

Watch a video of how Emirates Engineering modified the aircraft here.

Emirates SkyCargo will be operating 10 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with Economy Class seats removed allowing for up to 17 tonnes or 132 cubic metres of additional cargo capacity per flight on top of the 40-50 tonne cargo capacity in the belly hold of the widebody passenger aircraft. The modified Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are being deployed on routes to key production and consumer markets where Emirates SkyCargo sees maximum demand for movement of urgently required goods.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo said: “Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo has taken very seriously its responsibility of connecting people and businesses across the world with the commodities that they urgently require. To this end, we have been working flat out, first to re-connect a global network of more than 85 destinations and then to introduce capacity options that fit what our customers demand from us including passenger aircraft flying only with belly hold cargo and loading cargo in the overhead bins and on passenger seats. Now, with the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with modified Economy Class cabins, we will be able to transport even more cargo per flight, allowing for more cargo to reach their destination faster and for more efficient cargo operations.”

The modification of the Economy Class cabins of the 10 Emirates Boeing 777-300ER is being executed at the state of the art Emirates Engineering facilities in Dubai with each aircraft requiring close to 640 man-hours of work for the modification. Engineers remove 305 Economy Seats from one aircraft, fixing safety equipment and implementing regular load bearing tests during the process. Seven aircraft have already been modified by the Emirates Engineering team, with three more aircraft due to be ready by mid-July 2020.

Ahmed Safa, Divisional Senior Vice President Emirates Engineering said: “Converting our passenger aircraft to these mini freighters is certainly a sign of the times. Our teams have shown resilience, an innovative spirit, and adapted quickly to the needs of the changing business environment. We have risen to the twin challenges of new procedures and safety protocols within set timelines, and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved.”

By the end of the project, the Emirates Engineering team would have removed 3,050 seats, which will be safely and hygienically stored away till the time the aircraft are required for passenger services. The seats will be fitted back into the aircraft and tested for passenger safety and comfort.

With its focus on safety of operations, Emirates SkyCargo has implemented strict rules on the type of cargo that can be loaded inside the modified Economy Class cabins. Some of the cargo commodities that can be loaded include general cargo such as PPE and garments, pharmaceuticals that can be maintained within a temperature range of 15 and 25 degrees Celsius and perishables such as cut flowers, and select dry and non-smelling fruits and vegetables. Cargo loaded in the passenger cabins would need to be packaged inside a suitable external container such as a plastic or cardboard box in accordance with the latest regulations outlined by IATA.

Emirates SkyCargo is the freight division of Emirates. The air cargo carrier operates a combination of scheduled and chartered flights to more than 85 global destinations every week. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo has been acting as a global conveyor belt connecting markets across the world to supplies of essential commodities including PPE, pharmaceuticals, food and other perishables, e-commerce goods as well as machinery and other equipment.

Emirates Engineering ensures that Emirates’ wide-body fleet of more than 260 aircraft are maintained in peak condition. The team is conducting regular parking checks on the grounded aircraft and scheduled A-checks, C-checks and operational maintenance on the flying fleet serving a mix of cargo and an increasing number of passenger destinations.

Dubai, UAE, 04 May 2020- Emirates SkyCargo has announced that with effect from the first week May 2020, it has commenced dedicated cargo flights on a scheduled basis every week to 67 global destinations across six continents. This includes 11 destinations in the Middle East, seven in Africa, 22 in Asia, six in Australasia, 15 in Europe and six cities in the Americas.

Out of the 67 destinations, 58 are served by Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft with a cargo capacity of around 40 tonnes and 24 cities are served by the Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777-F aircraft with the ability to uplift 100 tonnes of cargo per flight.

Emirates SkyCargo has operated over 2,500 dedicated cargo flights in the month of April. Acting as a global conveyor belt for the transport of essential supplies including protective equipment, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and food, the air cargo carrier flew more than 1650 flights on its Boeing 777-300ER passenger freighters and over 850 flights on its Boeing 777 freighters to over 80 destinations on scheduled and special charter services. Since January 2020, the air cargo carrier has transported more than 375,000 tonnes of cargo on its flights.

“Over the last six to eight weeks, we have had to work innovatively and around the clock to move essential cargo to destinations where they were most needed. We started with just about a dozen cities served by our Boeing 777-300ER passenger freighters at the end of March but within the space of a month we have scaled our operations to a point where we now have more than 65 destinations as part of our network and about 85 daily cargo flights.

“Our cargo operations continue to grow, as we see strong demand and every day we work to connect more points with our flights. Our operations support not just the immediate relief efforts, but in a distributed global economy, they also help keep businesses and trade running. And as Emirates, we would also be happy to support any immediate repatriation efforts and transport passengers on our cargo flights if we receive approvals from national authorities,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

Emirates SkyCargo witnessed an increasing demand for operating charter flights during the month of April. The carrier operated more than 170 charter flights over the space of just four weeks. A majority of charter flights were operated to transport relief materials.

In total, the carrier transported an estimated 10,000 tonnes of personal protective equipment, medical equipment, devices and pharmaceuticals in the month of April on its scheduled and charter flights. Emirates SkyCargo is drawing on its expertise as a global leader for the transportation of temperature- sensitive pharmaceuticals to ensure that medicinal products are transported in a rapid, secure and efficient manner.

In addition to medical supplies, Emirates SkyCargo is also facilitating the transport of other items including perishables and fresh produce. Between January and April 2020, Emirates SkyCargo flew more than 85,000 tonnes of food around the world, continuing to support local agriculture and produce exports while ensuring that consumers can still access fruits, vegetables and other fresh produce in local stores.

Emirates SkyCargo is working closely with national governments to help boost local economies by providing businesses with export capacity on its flights. The carrier has recently announced that it is working with both the Australian and New Zealand governments to help transport fresh produce and other key exports to global consumer markets while at the same time ensuring that key supplies including equipment and medicine could continue to flow to Australia and New Zealand.

Dubai, UAE, 09 April 2020- Keeping up its unwavering commitment to deliver food, medical supplies and other essential commodities to markets across the world during the Covid-19 pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo has rapidly scaled up its cargo services to connect an increasing number of global destinations. The air cargo carrier currently operates flights to 51 destinations globally, out of which 19 cities are served by the Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 freighter aircraft offering up to 100 tonnes of capacity per flight and 38 destinations are served by dedicated cargo flights on Emirates’ Boeing 777 passenger aircraft offering up to 50 tonnes belly capacity. (For a full list of destination and schedules, visit the Emirates SkyCargo website)

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: “We have particularly ramped up operations for transporting cargo in the bellyhold of our passenger aircraft in the last two weeks. Emirates SkyCargo has been expanding its network on a daily basis and some of the latest destinations for our cargo flights on passenger aircraft include Bangkok, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Singapore and Taipei. Air cargo remains the fastest means of connecting essential supplies to those that need them and our expanded network allows for increased connectivity across different global origins and destinations.”

During the week ending 4 April 2020, Emirates SkyCargo had operated more than 160 flights on its freighter aircraft and close to 90 flights on its passenger aircraft. The following week, the air cargo carrier had operated close to 160 flights on its passenger aircraft alone.

In order to streamline operations and cut costs under rapidly changing global conditions, Emirates SkyCargo has also transferred all its cargo handling operations in Dubai to Dubai International Airport. Watch a video about the change to Emirates SkyCargo’s hub operations.

Charter Operations

Over and above scheduled operations, Emirates SkyCargo has also operated an increasing number of special charter flights for cargo both on its freighter and passenger aircraft. Since the start of April, the carrier has executed more than 30 charter flights connecting over 20 global destinations. The main commodities transported on the charter flights are medical supplies including face masks, protective covers, sanitisers, equipment for hospitals in addition to pharmaceuticals, raw materials and spare parts.

In the space of just three days between 7 and 9 April, some of the notable charters operated by Emirates SkyCargo included

• 100 tonnes of masks and other protective supplies transported from Guangzhou to Dubai on 7 April. This was part of several other charters to bring medical supplies into the UAE.
• Close to 100 tonnes of medical supplies including masks and other protective equipment transported on 8 April from Shanghai to Mumbai on the Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 freighter
• 100 tonnes of protective equipment transported from Shanghai to Dubai on a Boeing 777 freighter on 8 April. The supplies will then be flown to Bucharest on 10 and 11 April on four separate flights on the Boeing 777 passenger aircraft.
• Over seven tonnes of medical supplies transported to Los Angeles on 8 April in the belly hold of an Emirates’ Boeing 777 passenger aircraft. This was also the first dedicated cargo flight on a passenger aircraft operated by Emirates SkyCargo to North America.
• Close to 1 million Covid-19 testing kits to be transported to Sao Paulo on 9 April. An earlier shipment containing 500,000 kits was transported on 30 March.

Emirates SkyCargo has a dynamic and responsive team handling charter operations. In some cases, the team has been able to deploy aircraft within 24 hours of the original request coming in for a charter operation.

Emirates SkyCargo global teams go the extra mile

Both at Hub Dubai and across the world, Emirates SkyCargo’s staff have been working hard to ensure the safe and efficient transport of cargo despite challenging conditions.

“Under these unprecedented conditions, our staff are fully committed to making sure that that medicines, medical equipment, food and other necessary commodities for people and businesses around the world are being transported without any compromise of the high service levels that differentiate Emirates SkyCargo from other players in the market. We are truly grateful to the non-stop efforts of our team that contribute to our successful operations,” added Sultan.

Some of Emirates SkyCargo’s stations including Hong Kong and Amsterdam have had to manage increased freighter operations with Hong Kong managing more than 30 and Amsterdam managing more than 16 freighter flights a week.

Emirates SkyCargo’s team at Karachi were even able to break a global record for maximum cargo loaded in the lower deck of a Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft. The team helped transport just under 62 tonnes of cargo, primarily food items including vegetables, fish and meat, on a single flights bound to Dubai.

Bringing food and medical supplies to the UAE

From across its global network, Emirates SkyCargo has helped import more than 33,000 tonnes of perishable items and more than 1,700 tonnes of pharmaceuticals into the UAE since the start of the year. Food items are brought in from several markets including Australia, India, Kenya and Pakistan.

“With our expanded network now covering more than 50 global destinations, we are able to ensure a constant supply of food and medicines from across the world into the UAE. Emirates SkyCargo remains committed to maintaining and constantly replenishing vital food and medical supplies in the country,” emphasized Sultan.

Globally, the air cargo carrier has transported more than 93,000 tonnes of perishables and more than 20,000 tonnes of pharmaceuticals. The carrier has also transported more than 3000 tonnes of medical supplies for combatting Covid-19 across the world.

Dubai, UAE, 26 March 2020- Emirates SkyCargo has stepped up its commitment to facilitate the flow of essential goods across markets including the UAE. Working in a scenario where global air cargo capacity has been severely constrained due to restrictions on passenger flights, Emirates SkyCargo continues to ensure that goods such as food and medical supplies are transported to destinations where they are needed the most. In line with the mandate from the UAE government, the air cargo carrier is deploying sufficient air cargo capacity to ensure constant supply and replenishment of food products and medicines in the UAE.

Emirates SkyCargo has deployed a range of measures, including additional freighter flights, and using connecting road feeder services to help transport essential cargo such as pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and equipment, perishables, and other raw materials to the UAE and other global destinations.

Between mid-January and mid-March 2020, Emirates SkyCargo transported more than 225,000 tonnes of cargo in total out of which 55,000 tonnes were food items including fruits, vegetables, meat and seafood, and more than 13,000 tonnes were pharmaceutical cargo.

Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates SkyCargo, said: “Emirates SkyCargo is a customer-focused carrier and we take our commitment to movement of essential commodities for communities very seriously. By operating our freighter fleet at full capacity across six continents with a combination of scheduled and ad-hoc operations, we are making sure that we can maintain the flow of goods such as medical and pharmaceutical supplies, equipment and food items not just to Dubai and the UAE but to other global destinations where they are most needed across the world.”

Sultan added, “We’re also looking at more new and innovative ways to best serve our customers and the global markets and will continue to communicate with our customers on a daily basis to ensure our services are optimized to best support their needs in these challenging times.”

Emirates’ fleet of 11 freighter aircraft flew a number of ad hoc and charter flights in addition to scheduled operations to match the increased demand for air transportation of cargo. During the eight week period between mid-January and mid-March, Emirates’ freighter aircraft transported more than 50,000 tonnes of cargo including medical and food supplies. During one charter operation, Emirates SkyCargo transported close to half a million units of hand sanitisers in a single Boeing 777 freighter aircraft.

During the last two weeks, the air cargo carrier has operated more than 30 weekly freighter flights from Hong Kong, with the station sometimes handling between six to eight freighters in a single day. In addition, Emirates SkyCargo also operated 12 freighters from Shanghai, five freighters from Guangzhou and one freighter from Beijing during the same week. In addition to scheduled freighter services to over 40 global destinations, ad-hoc freighter services were also operated to other destinations including Seoul, Taipei, Frankfurt, Milan and Casablanca in the month of March.

Emirates SkyCargo is also offering customers the choice of having their cargo transported by road feeder services to and from other freighter destinations to continue providing much needed connectivity for cargo.

The airline has released a video that follows an all-women flight deck crew operate multi-stop cargo flights across four continents on Emirates SkyCargo’s Boeing 777 freighter aircraft. Captain Ellen Roz from the United States and First Officer Heidi McDiarmid from Australia cover close to 30,000kms in 10 days on five freighter flights from Frankfurt to Mexico City onwards to Quito, Aguadilla, Amsterdam and finally to Dubai transporting over 300 tonnes of cargo ranging from fresh flowers and fruits to pharmaceuticals. The two pilots were also joined by Captain Heather Wolf from Canada for operating the flight from Frankfurt to Mexico City.

Watch the video here.

Women in Emirates

Women constitute more than 40% of the total workforce at Emirates with the majority working as cabin crew. Emirates’ female pilots come from over 30 nationalities, covering an age range from 23 to 62 years. Women from over 160 nationalities, including more than 1,100 Emiratis, are employed across the Emirates Group in operational roles in functions including flight operations, engineering, aircraft maintenance & appearance, catering, cargo and ramp operations; in customer facing roles in airport services, sales and customer affairs and corporate roles across business support functions.

“From the very start, Emirates’ success story has been powered to a large extent thanks to the hard work and talent of our female employees across all our business functions. On the occasion of International Women’s Day we celebrate their immense achievement not just at Emirates but within the global aviation industry. We are happy and proud that our multinational women employees act as trail blazers in connecting the world and also as role models encouraging women and girls everywhere to pursue careers in aviation,” said Abdulaziz Al Ali, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Emirates Group.

Emirates is also celebrating with its customers on board. In recognition of International Women’s Day, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment, ice, is featuring over 120 female directed films. Movies include Hollywood blockbusters such as Charlie’s Angels directed by Elizabeth Banks; Mamma Mia! by Phyllida Lloyd; and Oscar winning films such as The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow and Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola. The catalogue also features foreign language films like Shonali Bose’s The Sky is Pink and Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda.

Freighter Operations

Unlike operations for flying passengers, Emirates’ freighter flights are dedicated to transporting cargo and do not always originate and end in Dubai. Instead, the flights cover multiple origins and destinations over rotations that last several days. This allows for additional flexibility in cargo operations along with the ability to rapidly and efficiently cargo from where it is produced to markets where it is required by customers.

Additionally Emirates’ freighter aircraft also operate to destinations that are not covered by passenger flights. Ecuador, for example, is one of the largest flower producing markets in the world and is a cargo-only destination on Emirates’ global network. Emirates’ freighter aircraft transport fresh cut flowers from Quito to Amsterdam via Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. This ensures that the flowers are transported more rapidly from Ecuador to the Netherlands than if the flight had to travel to Dubai and then proceed onwards from Dubai to Amsterdam.

Over 75 tonnes of fresh flowers were transported on the freighter flights operated by Captain Roz and First Officer McDiarmid from Quito to Aguadilla and from Aguadilla to Amsterdam. Emirates’ freighter flights from Quito create a direct channel for exports for the Ecuadorian floriculture industry to Amsterdam, the world’s largest flower distribution hub. This supports the local economy in Ecuador and the livelihoods of over 100,000 people in the country who work to cultivate and harvest flowers.

Freighter flights also allow for rapid transportation of goods such as lifesaving medication from the location where they are manufactured to patients who may urgently need them for treatment. Close to 10 tonnes of valuable pharmaceuticals were transported on the freighter flight from Frankfurt to Mexico City operated by the all-women flight deck crew.

Emirates SkyCargo operates scheduled freighter flights to over 40 global destinations every week. In addition, Emirates’ Boeing 777 freighter aircraft also execute a number of on-demand charter operations for clients to deliver a range of commodities from outsized machinery to relief materials. In 2019, Emirates SkyCargo operated over 300 charter operations globally.

“The global air cargo industry witnessed what was a very challenging year in 2019. Economic uncertainty, tensions in global trade and unrest in key markets negatively impacted cargo volumes. However, the tough market conditions were an opportunity for us to review our core offering to our customers and ensure that we remained market leaders with our specialised product offering, superior capabilities and infrastructure as well as our agility in responding to customer demand,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

“The outlook for 2020 is more positive with the air cargo industry set to post a modest recovery thanks to improved economic activity and trade growth. With our commitment to ‘deliver as promised’ backed by a global network covering over 155 destinations centred in Dubai, our modern fleet of all wide-body aircraft and our state of the art Emirates SkyCentral terminals, Emirates SkyCargo is well positioned to support trade and economic growth in line with the Dubai Silk Road Project. With Expo 2020 Dubai also set to kick off in October 2020, we will see a surge in movement of goods to and from Dubai and we are working with our partners to provide specialised air freight services for this once in a lifetime event,” he added.

Specialised Products

In 2019, Emirates SkyCargo continued to roll out specialised products catered for specific industry verticals.

Emirates Delivers is a new e-commerce platform that enables consumers, both individuals and small businesses, to purchase products from any US based online retail store and have it delivered in the UAE. Emirates Delivers is part of Emirates SkyCargo’s broader strategy to promote Dubai as an e-commerce fulfilment hub for customers based in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. In 2020, the availability of Emirates Delivers will be expanded to more markets.

Other products from the Emirates SkyCargo portfolio showed a strong performance despite challenging market conditions.

• More than 400,000 tonnes of perishables were flown on Emirates’ flights under Emirates Fresh, Emirates SkyCargo’s specialised product for perishables. In November and December of 2019, the carrier operated nine charter flights from Santiago, Chile uniquely for carrying cherries.
• Close to 11,000 high-priority shipments were moved across six continents under the Emirates AOG product during 2019.
• Year-on-year Increase of 6% in the volume of high value goods that were flown under Emirates Safe VAL, Emirates SkyCargo’s product for transportation of precious goods.
• A 12% increase in demand for Emirates Pets, Emirates SkyCargo’s product for transportation of domestic cats and dogs.

Emirates Charter

In addition to its scheduled passenger and freighter flights, Emirates SkyCargo offers customisable and flexible charter solutions to its global customers. With a responsive and agile team that works to meet customer requirements and set up operations within a short time frame, the carrier has been able to operate close to 370 charters during 2019. Charter operations have helped transport a wide variety of cargo from relief materials for natural disasters and equipment for music concerts to flowers and other perishables.

Fit-for-purpose infrastructure and capabilities

In 2019, Emirates SkyCargo unveiled a new handling facility dedicated for pharmaceutical cargo at Chicago airport, one of the most important pharma stations for Emirates SkyCargo across the world. The facility features temperature controlled zones for acceptance and delivery, pharma cargo build up and break down, storage and direct ramp access and is also certified under EU GDP guidelines.

In November 2019, Emirates SkyCargo moved its pharma handling operations at Copenhagen airport to a dedicated GDP certified facility.

Both initiatives are part of the carrier’s objective to offer enhanced protection for pharmaceutical cargo, not just at the Dubai hub, but from origin to destination under the pharma corridors programme. During 2019, Emirates SkyCargo worked with ground handlers at key pharma origin and destination cities across the world to expand the number of pharma stations from 12 to 25. With its focus on improved capabilities and process benchmarks through collaboration, the implementation of Emirates SkyCargo’s pharma corridors programme has resulted in an increase in the volume of pharma cargo handled across the carrier’s pharma stations. For example, since the launch of the new facility, Chicago has seen a double digit growth in the volume of pharma cargo transported.

Operations

In 2019, Emirates SkyCargo’s SkyCentral terminals in Dubai handled an average four pieces of cargo every second of every hour on a 24*7 basis. Over 700 staff on duty at any time of the day helped process around 360,000 individual packages daily through these terminals enabling Emirates’ fleet of over 270 aircraft move approximately 7,000 tonnes of cargo every day, the equivalent of more than 60 full Boeing 777 freighters, between Dubai and the rest of the world.

A fleet of 49 trucks, including 12 refrigerated trucks, made an average 175 trips daily in 2019 to connect the two cargo terminals. Acting as a seamless conveyor belt between the two cargo terminals, the trucking system helped connect cargo from touchdown in one airport to take-off at another airport and vice versa in under five hours. Overall, more than 307,000 tonnes of cargo were transferred by the trucking system between the two airports in 2019 and more than 1.6 million tonnes of cargo over the five years since the start of trucking operations in 2014.

Delivering as Promised

Emirates SkyCargo’s unwavering commitment to “Delivery as Promised” has since 2018, been reinforced by applying the Cargo iQ framework. Emirates SkyCargo has established a 24/7 operational Cargo Operations Control Centre (COCC) which monitors the progress of shipments across predetermined milestones from acceptance to delivery. In 2019, the carrier monitored over 1.5 million shipments using Cargo iQ guidelines ensuring that cargo having a direct impact on the lives of people around the world, was transported and delivered on time.

Dubai, UAE, 15 October 2019- Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, has launched Emirates Delivers - a new e-commerce delivery platform that allows customers shopping from multiple online retailers in the US to consolidate their purchases and have the goods delivered to a home or office address. Now available to individual or small business customers in the UAE, Emirates Delivers supports Dubai’s vision to become as a global hub for e-commerce, as envisioned under the Dubai Silk Road Strategy announced by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai.

Emirates Delivers is a fast, reliable and cost-effective e-commerce shipping solution that is targeted both at individual customers as well as small businesses who regularly shop online for their personal or business needs. It is an open e-commerce fulfilment platform that can also be used by other e-commerce businesses and logistics integrators.

Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: “Emirates SkyCargo is delighted to be the first international cargo airline in the world to develop a dedicated e-commerce delivery platform. Currently, Emirates Delivers enables consumers to purchase their favourite products from any US based online retail store and have it delivered in the UAE. The launch of Emirates Delivers is in line with our strategy to roll out specialised and innovative air transportation products targeted at industry verticals and with our efforts to position Dubai as a global e-commerce fulfilment hub for customers based in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. This is line with the Dubai Silk Road Strategy announced earlier this year by HH Sheikh Hamdan which aims to strengthen Dubai’s position as a key trade and logistics hub.

“The e-commerce industry has grown by more than 150% in the last five years and we have been working with industry partners to develop an ideal delivery platform that can harness the power of Emirates’ modern fleet, expansive global network and multiple flight frequencies together with using Dubai’s strategic position to deliver optimal value to our end customers. We are actively working on expanding the availability of Emirates Delivers to a larger number of source and destination markets in the near future.”

To use Emirates Delivers, customers have to go through a free registration process at www.emiratesdelivers.com. On completion of registration, members are allocated a unique and free Emirates Delivers mailing address in the USA. Customers can have their online purchases from US e-commerce retailers delivered to this address where the goods can be stored free of charge for up to 30 days. Customers have the flexibility to create a shipping request anytime within these 30 days and have their purchases consolidated into one parcel and have this delivered to their designated UAE address. The packages will be transported to Dubai on Emirates SkyCargo’s flights from the US and will then be delivered to the shopper’s doorstep within 3-5 days of the creation of the shipping request.

Through Emirates Delivers, customers can save money through cheaper shipping costs both when shipping within the US from the retailer to their Emirates Delivers mailing address and through the competitive shipping rates offered by Emirates Delivers to move goods from the US to Dubai. Customers can also benefit from reduced shipping weights thanks to repacking through which packaging material from each individual shipment is removed and the goods are packed into one consolidated box.

To celebrate the launch of Emirates Delivers, Emirates SkyCargo is also offering a limited-time 15% discount on shipping charges valid until 30 November 2019.

Emirates SkyCargo offers cargo capacity on Emirates’ fleet of over 265 modern wide-body aircraft including 12 freighters- 11 Boeing 777-Fs and one B747F. The carrier operates to 13 destinations in the US, offering cargo capacity on over 100 weekly flights including scheduled freighter services to destinations including Columbus, Chicago, Houston and New York.

The air cargo carrier operates two state of the art cargo terminals at its hub in Dubai and has developed specialised air transportation products for specific industry verticals. Emirates SkyCargo is a key facilitator of global trade and during the Financial Year 2018/19, the air cargo carrier transported over 2.7 million tonnes of cargo across its global network of over 155 destinations spread over six continents through its hub in Dubai.

Seafood Souq has created an online B2B marketplace application that helps seafood buyers procure products from all over the world. In addition to streamlining the traditional model of sourcing seafood, the application also allows for improved quality and traceability of the produce being transported. Better information sharing facilitated by the platform means that there are likely to be fewer instances of mis-labelling and expiry of seafood.

Seafood Souq have entered into a partnership with Emirates SkyCargo for transporting their seafood shipments rapidly from source markets to customers. Although the initial focus is on delivering fresh seafood from markets such as Norway, Cyprus, Chile, USA and Scotland to customers in the UAE and the Middle East, the start-up has plans to harness the potential of Emirates SkyCargo’s global network to reach a global clientele.

“The core aim of Seafood Souq is to provide access to fresh products in the quickest possible time by connecting customers to suppliers and allowing produce to be dispatched on the day that the order is received. Working with Emirates SkyCargo was the naturally obvious choice for us because of the network and frequency of flights offered by them,” said Sean Dennis, CEO and Co-Founder of Seafood Souq. “Not only does Emirates SkyCargo have a good frequency of flights into all the key global origin and destination markets for seafood but they also have the cool chain infrastructure and capabilities that allows seafood to retain its freshness during the journey,” he added.

“We are excited to be working with Seafood Souq and to be supporting an innovative Dubai-based start-up having the potential to transform the supply chain for the seafood industry,” remarked Dennis Lister, Emirates VP Cargo Commercial Development. “Our Emirates Fresh product is designed for the rapid and efficient transport of seafood and other perishables. With our modern aircraft and other equipment including dedicated Emirates Fresh Cool Dollies, Emirates White Covers and a state of the art hub in Dubai with extensive cool chain facilities, we are well positioned to support Seafood Souq as they continue to grow.”

Emirates SkyCargo transported over 400,000 tonnes of perishables across the world in 2018 out of which more than 70,000 tonnes was seafood. Some of the major origin markets for seafood on Emirates SkyCargo in 2018 included Norway, India, Sri Lanka, Uganda and the UK.

Emirates SkyCargo currently uses cargo hold capacity in Emirates’ fleet of more than 265 aircraft, including 12 freighters– and provides air cargo services to over 155 destinations across six continents.

Belgium

Emirates SkyCargo has facilitated over 60,000 tonnes of exports from Belgium over the last five years. Soon after the launch of passenger flight services to Brussels, the air cargo carrier also started scheduled freighter operations to the city in 2015.

Brussels is an important station in Emirates SkyCargo’s network for the transport of pharmaceuticals. It is one of the more than 20 global destinations in the air cargo carrier’s Pharma Corridors initiative that aims to provide enhanced protection for pharma cargo from origin to destination. Since the launch of Emirates Pharma, the carrier’s specialised product for temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals, Emirates SkyCargo has transported more than 6000 tonnes of pharma cargo from Brussels.

In Belgium, Emirates SkyCargo has also operated freighter flights to and from Liege in response to demand for transporting horses to global championship events. Over the last five years, the air cargo carrier has operated close to 80 horse charters from Liege transporting more than 3,500 horses and 800 grooms. The largest of these charter operations took place in September 2018 with more than 500 horses being transported on 19 flights to and from the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 in the US.

Norway

Close to 62,000 tonnes of Norwegian salmon have made their way from Oslo to customers across the Middle East and Asia on Emirates Skycargo’s flights helping make an important economic contribution to Norway’s seafood industry. As a result of the strong demand for transporting salmon, Emirates SkyCargo launched a weekly freighter service on its Boeing 777 freighter aircraft to Oslo from October 2016.

In total, Emirates SkyCargo has transported over 105,000 tonnes of cargo to and from Norway since the start of its operations in the country.

Cool Chain Capabilities

Pharmaceuticals and seafood arriving in Dubai on Emirates’ passenger and freighter flights are rapidly and efficiently moved in an unbroken cool chain through Emirates SkyCargo’s hub and transferred to other flights across the carrier’s network of more than 155 global destinations. A modern fleet of 269 wide-body aircraft and state of the art infrastructure support Emirates SkyCargo’s specialised solutions such as Emirates Pharma and Emirates Fresh for the pharmaceutical and perishables industries. Last year, the carrier moved over 400,000 tonnes of perishables and close to 75,000 tonnes of pharmaceuticals across the world.

Over the last three years, Emirates SkyCargo has managed to consolidate the position of its Dubai hub as an efficient and rapid transit point for cargo originating from and destined to a variety of cities across six continents. It has also transformed the perception of Dubai in the minds of global cargo customers from a transit stop to be avoided in summer because of high temperatures to a preferred state of the art point of connection to markets around the world.

Emirates SkyCargo has invested in developing modern and ‘fit for purpose’ infrastructure at its Emirates SkyCentral DXB and DWC cargo terminals for cargo from passenger and freighter aircraft respectively. This includes extensive cool chain facilities and dedicated storage space for pharmaceutical cargo. With a combined capacity of over 2 million tonnes of cargo per annum, the terminals see movement of close to 5,000 shipments and over 6 million kilos of cargo per day including during the summer season.

Connecting cures

Since 2017, there has been an increase of 7% in the volume of pharma cargo transported during the summer months and an increase of 14% in the overall volume of pharmaceuticals transported throughout the year. This summer season alone, over 190,000 kilos of pharma travelled every day through Dubai on Emirates SkyCargo. These include lifesaving vaccines, medication for cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases that travel across the world through Dubai to reach patients in time for their treatment.

The carrier’s operations in Dubai, including its state of the art dedicated pharma facility at DXB, its freighter terminal at DWC and the connecting bonded trucking corridor between the two airports are certified for EU GDP norms. Emirates SkyCargo received its first GDP certification for its Dubai operations in 2016 and has successfully managed to get its recertification every year since.

Emirates SkyCargo has also enhanced the protection for pharmaceutical cargo from origin to destination by working with local ground handlers as part of its pharma corridors initiative. Earlier this year, the air cargo carrier inaugurated a new ‘purpose built’ pharma facility at Chicago airport. Chicago is one of Emirates SkyCargo’s most important pharma stations globally for both exports and imports.

Connecting people to the food they love

Every day, around 1,100 tonnes of food and other perishable products originating from different parts of the world move through Emirates SkyCargo’s terminals in Dubai. This summer, there was an increase of close to 6,000 tonnes in the total quantity of perishables passing through Dubai compared to 2017. Close to 35% of perishables arriving at Dubai are destined for the UAE with the rest travelling on to reach global consumers.

For example, the carrier uplifts specialty food produce from Italy including Parmigiano Reggiano and Bufalo Mozzarella cheese from Rome and Naples, Vignola cherries and kiwi fruit from Bologna and Modena, strawberries, fish and clam from the Venice area. In 2018, Emirates SkyCargo flew close to 3,000 tonnes of perishables just from Italy to the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and other destinations in East Asia.

Emirates SkyCargo also helps local economies through the facilitation of exports of sea food. Since the start of its service to Santiago, Chile, Emirates SkyCargo carried over 4,000 tonnes of Chilean salmon equating about 20% of the total volume of salmon exports to Asian destinations.

One of the points of origin for perishables for Emirates SkyCargo is India. Every month, around 4,000 tonnes of fruits, vegetables and other perishables are moved from India on Emirates SkyCargo aircraft. Produce exported include summer fruits such as mangoes and guavas and vegetables such as okra, drumstick and chillies helping bring a taste of home to Indian expat communities in various markets. Since May 2019, Emirates SkyCargo has moved 18,000 tonnes of perishables from India alone.

Investment in facilities and processes

For successful operations at the hub, Emirates SkyCargo has built processes compliant with stringent international norms such as the EU Good Distribution Practices (GDP) for transport of pharma cargo. Trained and experienced staff both at Dubai and across the world ensure that temperature sensitive pharma and perishable cargo are transported in the right conditions.

Since 2016, Emirates SkyCargo has also introduced specialised transportation solutions - Emirates Pharma and Emirates Fresh which have met with considerable success with customers. Innovative equipment such as the air cargo carrier’s fleet of over 40 Cool Dollies for pharma and 17 Cool Dollies for perishables at the hub make sure that cargo is not exposed to temperature changes when being loaded or unloaded from the aircraft or being transported to and from the terminal. Use of Emirates SkyCargo White Covers on pharma and perishable shipments also provides a robust first level protection against thermal fluctuations.

With its combination of a modern widebody aircraft fleet, wide network and multiple flight frequencies to major global destinations, Emirates SkyCargo ensures some of the fastest travel times for cargo across continents.

Krix has now supplied sound systems for more than 3,500 cinemas across the world, including over 300 in the Middle East. The South Australian business expects another 200 cinema sound systems to be installed in the Middle East in the next two years.

Before its partnership with Emirates SkyCargo, exports made up 30 percent of Krix’s revenue. Today, export revenue has increased to approximately half of turnover.

“Being able to access the Emirates SkyCargo’s global network with its hub in Dubai has become an important factor in our growth over the past three to four years. We’ve been able to reach new customers throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe while supporting jobs in the Adelaide region,” said Ashley Krix, Commercial Cinema Sales Director of Krix.

Krix has exported its products to destinations such as Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Belfast and Oslo.

“Emirates SkyCargo has a proud history of enabling Australian businesses like Krix to continue to compete in today’s connected world. With one of the youngest and most efficient aircraft fleets and specialised air transportation services for industry verticals such as pharmaceuticals, perishables and automotive, Emirates SkyCargo has helped many Australian businesses reach out to existing customers across borders and also develop new markets for their products. We’re committed to offering our customers a superior service and Australian products are known for their quality around the world which is what makes this such a winning partnership,” said Jason Brown, Adelaide Cargo Manager for Emirates SkyCargo.

Emirates SkyCargo is an important facilitator of Australian exports. In 2017-18, the air cargo carrier transported close to 50,000 tonnes of exports from Australia including perishables such as meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables as well as pharmaceuticals. Over the last five years, the carrier has moved more than a quarter million tonnes of exports from the country.

While the freight service began carrying general freight from Australia, Emirates SkyCargo has expanded to offer specialised services that cater to the unique demands of Australian industries.

Emirates Fresh is the carrier’s specialised product which ensures that local produce and other perishables can reach overseas markets while maintaining their freshness. Emirates Pharma is Emirates SkyCargo’s offering for the rapid and secure transportation of temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals.

Emirates SkyCargo’s products are backed by state of the art infrastructure and equipment including over 25,000 square metres of dedicated temperature controlled storage space at two cargo terminals in Dubai and a fleet of Emirates Pharma and Emirates Fresh cool dollies which provide temperature protection for cargo when being transported on the ramp from the aircraft to the cargo terminal. The carrier also has a fleet of trucks, including reefer trucks, operating 24*7 between Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central providing a seamless connection between connections on Emirates’ passenger and freighter aircraft.

Emirates SkyCargo has been connecting Australian businesses to the world since 1996.

The cargo service has also facilitated the transportation of priceless goods such as the First Fleet Piano from Sydney to London. In addition to transporting cargo in the belly hold of its passenger aircraft, Emirates SkyCargo also transports cargo on its freighter aircraft. The carrier operates a thrice a week freighter service to Sydney on its Boeing 777 freighter aircraft which has a capacity of close to 100 tonnes per flight.