As the cargo division of the largest air carrier in the world, they use Emirates’ extensive global network of over 140 destinations spread across six continents to ship cargo anywhere in the world. They expand trade flows and create new, mutually beneficial business opportunities with each unique and distinctive location they add to their network, supporting the growth of the world’s economies.
With a capacity of more than 2.3 million tonnes annually, they run two top-notch cargo terminals at the hub in Dubai. Thanks to their extensive cold chain capacity, they can safely and reliably transport even the most delicate cargo, including the world’s largest EU GDP-certified pharmaceutical hub.
They have created specialised solutions for highly specialised transportation needs using the technical expertise of their experts and customers, assuring the customers that their cargo will be handled with purpose-fit attention throughout its journey. Additionally, they have a track record of transporting even the most delicate cargo quickly, efficiently, and dependably because of their highly specialised solutions and cutting-edge facilities in Dubai.
What are Emirates SkyCargo’s global network and route map, and which significant cargo hubs does it operate out of?
We can transport cargo on dedicated freighters and via the belly-hold of passenger planes such as our soon-to-arrive A350s, ultimately expanding our reach to serve customers in new locations. From our hub in Dubai, we can reach two-thirds of the world’s population within eight hours of flight, meaning that we are well-positioned to serve as a leading logistics partner for the world’s rapidly changing supply chain needs.
India has long been an essential hub for us regarding pharmaceutical goods; in fact, our top three lane pairs for pharma shipments originate from India. With the increase in e-commerce, exports from Hong Kong and South China show consistently healthy demand and our well-established flower export business from Ecuador.
What logistics and cargo handling services does Emirates SkyCargo provide to its clients?
One of the key trends we have witnessed over recent years is the rise in specialized transportation solutions; in fact, the days of having general verticals in any field are gone, and we need to align our products to a specific subsection of those markets. Given our expertise in developing market-leading solutions, Emirates SkyCargo is well-placed to innovate and lead the industry with fit-for-purpose solutions across our portfolio.
Working hand-in-hand with our customers, we launched two new services under our Life Sciences and Healthcare portfolio earlier this year. Facilitating the rise in personalized medicine, we launched Emirates Vital, a white glove service designed to transport clinical trials, human organs and tissues, and cell and gene therapy. Through this innovative solution, we can connect physicians and patients with precious and susceptible shipments.
Enabling the expert transit of everything from ventilators and test kits to X-ray machines and MRIs, we launched Emirates Medical Devices, a future-ready service that ensures high-tech equipment is transported safely and complies with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) regulations.
It’s not just sensitive healthcare cargo that requires specialist solutions. The growing trend for cross-border e-commerce increases demand for transportation providers to meet customer expectations for speedy delivery. To meet this, we launched Emirates Delivers, an end-to-end solution that connects consumers in the UAE and Kuwait with e-commerce-based US and UK retailers that do not offer international delivery. Leveraging Emirates’ vast global network, we offer door-to-door delivery in three to five working days, providing a reliable and trustworthy solution to the region’s savvy shoppers.
We will innovate to make sure we continue to lead the industry in delivering specialist solutions that are fast, reliable, flexible, and efficient.
Could you describe the systems and technology employed by Emirates SkyCargo for tracking, managing, and monitoring cargo?
Emirates SkyCargo has integrated Cargo iQ’s framework in operations, which is a system of shipment planning and performance monitoring for air cargo based on standard business processes and milestones. Through this system, we can give our customers more visibility on their shipments’ status. This system enables us to reinforce our commitment to ‘Delivered as Promised’ based on its live shipment planning and tracking of cargo.
We will continue to find ways to bring technology into our operations, where it elevates our customer experience without replacing the essential human touch, which will remain a cornerstone of the Emirates brand.
In what ways does Emirates SkyCargo respond to the difficulties and disruptions that the COVID-19 pandemic poses for the global logistics and air cargo industries?
Throughout the pandemic, Emirates SkyCargo was responsible for connecting people and businesses worldwide with the commodities they urgently needed. During difficult times, we helped keep trade flowing, serving as a global conveyor belt.
Meeting demand was a challenge early in the pandemic, with many global markets reliant on imports for food security. We repurposed our grounded passenger fleet and put 19 modified Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft to work in Emirates SkyCargo operations. By removing the seats from the Economy Class cabin, we unlocked an additional 17 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight, on top of the 40 – 50 tonne cargo capacity in the belly hold of the widebody passenger aircraft, allowing us to better respond to demand with cargo-only missions.
The quick and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine was another challenge for the logistics industry. Emirates SkyCargo was one of the first global air cargo carriers to begin extensive preparations, expanding on our industry-leading pharma cold chain infrastructure with a fully automated, temperature-controlled EU GDP-certified airside hub. Offering over 15,000 m2 of storage space, the seat holds the equivalent of 60 – 90 million doses. Eighteen months after transporting the first trial shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, we reached the 1 billion doses milestone of more than 4,200 tonnes to over 80 destinations on over 2,000 Emirates flights.
We always had an eye on life post-pandemic. As we rebuilt our network and operations, we continued to launch new products and services and elevated some of our existing services with learnings from the pandemic, such as our pharma offering.
How does Emirates SkyCargo support Dubai’s and the UAE’s connectivity and economic growth?
Under D33, the Dubai government has outlined a bold strategy to double its foreign trade, and the opportunity for Emirates SkyCargo to keep moving goods to and through Dubai is clear.
Since its inception, Emirates SkyCargo has been a facilitator of global trade. With every new and unique destination added to our network, we improve trade flows and generate new, reciprocal business opportunities that help strengthen global economies. As our hub, Dubai and the UAE sit at the heart of this.
What are Emirates SkyCargo’s long-term goals and strategic priorities for growing its services, fleet, or global presence?
We have laid out ambitious plans for the next decade, which include doubling our existing capacity, expanding our freighter network with over 20 new destinations and offering even more flexibility and services to our customers with a fleet mix of over 300 widebody aircraft comprising 777s, 777-Fs, 747-Fs, A350s, and A380s.
Our ambition is to lead the industry in delivering specialist solutions that are fast, reliable, flexible and efficient and to provide against this. We will continue to innovate new products and services that build on our portfolio, transporting cargo based on customers’ requirements, no matter how delicate.