DUBAI, Nov 19 – Emirates SkyCargo has been named Air Cargo Carrier of the Year at the 2010 IFW Awards.
The cargo division of Emirates Airline beat off competition from five other carriers including British Airways, Lufthansa and American Airlines to win the award.
This is the fifth time the cargo carrier has won the award, having previously received the honour in 2008, 2006, 2005 and 2004.
“To win this prestigious award for a fifth time is a great honour and a powerful endorsement of our service,” said Ram Menen, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President Cargo.
The award comes a few months after Emirates SkyCargo become the first airline to win a prestigious bi-annual “Deutsche Bahn Supplier of the Year 2010” in the “Logistics Services”.
The Air Cargo Carrier of the Year Award comes as Emirates SkyCargo continues to increase its network of destinations across the globe and has recently commenced freighter services to Almaty, Bagram (Afghanistan) and São Paulo. 152-strong fleet is one of the youngest in the skies, and includes seven freighters: three Boeing 747-400Fs, two 747-400ERFs and two 777Fs.
Emirates SkyCargo operates dedicated freighter aircrafts between Dubai and Nairobi route three times a week and the airline’s Emirates’ Emirates’ dedicated freighter services are in addition to the belly hold capacity of the 14 weekly flights the airline operates between the two destinations.
From Kenya, Emirates SkyCargo carries cut flowers and other horticultural flowers, meat, among other products. It brings in pharmaceuticals, telecom equipment, textile products, electronic product, etc.
Emirates’ extensive global network of over 100 destinations is well supported by the Cargo Mega Terminal in Dubai spread over an area of 43,600 square metres. The excellent ground handling services ensures the shortest acceptance, delivery and transit times of any major international airport, with urgent inbound consignments cleared within 120 minutes of arrival, outbound acceptances up to just 120 minutes prior to departure and outbound transfers possible in less than 120 minutes.
The carrier’s network now stands at 108 cities in 65 countries, comprising 25 dedicated freighter destinations and 98 points served by aircraft with belly-hold cargo capacity.
Emirates SkyCargo’s status as a leading innovator was confirmed earlier this year as total shipments of e-freight – paperless cargo consignments – reached the one million kilos a month milestone. The carrier, which is an enthusiastic advocate of the IATA initiative and the world’s leading carrier of e-freight, is now seeing around 12 per cent of shipments from compliant airports being sent in this way.
In the first six months of Emirates’ current financial year ending 30th September 2010, Emirates SkyCargo posted an increase in revenue of 48.4 per cent to AED 4.4 billion, with cargo tonnage up by 23.7 per cent to 897 thousand tonnes, compared with 725 thousand tonnes for the same period in 2009. SkyCargo continues to post steady revenue growth contributing around 17.8 per cent of the airline’s transport revenue.
