Cargo lorry corridor to operate between Dubai airports from May

Emirates SkyCargo is the air freight division of Emirates Airline. Randi Sokoloff / The National

A fleet of lorries will create a “cargo corridor” between Dubai’s two main airports and the port at Jebel Ali, with an average of 10 vehicles an hour shuttling up and down the city’s roads at peak times,Emirates SkyCargo said yesterday.

Emirates SkyCargo, the group’s air freight division, will from May 1 onwards operate its freighter fleet from a new cargo terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport.

Over the next five years, the Dubai-based Allied Transport, a land transport services provider, will transfer cargo from Al Maktoum airport to Dubai International (DXB) after a deal was agreed with Emirates SkyCargo yesterday. The cargo will then be shipped on flights to different destinations.

Emirates SkyCargo expects to have an average of 10 trucks per hour travelling between Al Maktoum and DXB at peak times. The frequency will increase over the coming years, the company said.

“The development of the road network between Dubai Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport has had heavy investment, and Emirates’ deal with Allied Transport to provide road services between the two airports will provide an integral link as well as a competitive advantage,” said Saj Ahmad, the chief analyst at StrategicAero Research.

This advantage compared with other operators at the new airport that might not have the same capacity to expand their air/road logistics and transhipment capabilities, he added.

Emirates SkyCargo said it would move its 12 aircraft – 10 Boeing 777Fs and two Boeing 747-400ERFs – to Al Maktoum.

Nabil Sultan, the divisional senior vice president cargo, said: “Our freighter fleet today already accounts for 35 per cent of Emirates SkyCargo’s revenue and the new terminal is at the core of our growth plans.

“Looking at the bigger picture, the new infrastructure also has a positive multiplier impact on Dubai as it will create a cargo corridor that connects the Jebel Ali port, DWC [Al Maktoum] and Dubai International Airport,” he added.

Emirates SkyCargo said that the new cargo terminal would be equipped to handle 700,000 tonnes per year upon its completion; potentially it will be equipped to handle 1 million tonnes.

The freighter operations at the terminal would start with 250 employees and subsequently increase to 500 employees, Emirates SkyCargo said.

Mr Ahmad said the proximity of one of the world’s busiest shipping ports at Jebel Ali, strategically located near Abu Dhabi too, would help Emirates Skycargo to exponentially increase its freight hauling business.

“The fact that the wider air cargo market has been under duress for the better part of a decade – Emirates SkyCargo is definitely an exception to the rule in the air freight business and it’s not hard to see why,” said Mr Ahmad.

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