Dubai Airshow: Emirates targets freight capacity increase and inaugurates new cargo hub

Emirates on Tuesday inaugurated its new cargo hub and announced its plan to increase its annual freight capacity to 12 million tonnes by 2050, even as the pace of global trade weakens amid China’s economic slowdown.

The freighter facility, located close to Al Maktoum International Airport in the logistics district of Dubai South, would handle 1 million tonnes of cargo annually by 2018, up from the current capacity of 810,000 tonnes, Emirates said at the Dubai Airshow.

Emirates’ current freight capacity is 2.3 million tonnes a year, with the bellyholds of passenger aircraft carrying most of that.

On Monday, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development trimmed its forecast for global trade growth this year by a tenth of a percentage point to 2.9 per cent, while lowering its forecast for next year by three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.3 per cent. Trade has stalled amid an economic slowdown in China as the country seeks to rebalance its economy from manufacturing and exports to services and consumption.

Global air cargo volumes are 1.2 per cent lower than they were at their peak at the end of last year, according to data released last week by the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Although the Middle East remains the bright spot in global air freight, with volumes up 7.5 per cent year-on-year in September, the increase is still about 5.5 percentage points down on the average year to date.

“Despite the doom and gloom that you hear about, there is still a massive amount of cargo that gets transferred across the globe,” said Nabil Sultan, a divisional senior vice president at Emirates Skycargo. “People are ordering things online today. It is becoming part of the DNA of buying goods and services across the globe.”

Every day thousands of tonnes of cargo are moved between the Emirates freighter facility in Dubai South and its “mega terminal” at Dubai International Airport.

The two hubs, located 77 kilometres apart, are connected via a “bonded virtual corridor” through which cargo is hauled by a fleet of 47 trucks. Transfers should take less than five hours.

“Very few operators have successfully operated two airport hubs through history,” said Henrik Ambak, a senior vice president of global cargo operations at Emirates.

About 85 per cent of the freight that arrives on Emirates Skycargo is for transit, according to Mr Ambak.

Emirates currently operates 15 freighters – 13 Boeing 777s and two Boeing 747s – at the Dubai South facility, but the number of freighters will eventually increase.

“I am sure we will be introducing new freighter aircraft over the years to make Dubai a logistics and cargo operations hub,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and group.

selgazzar@thenational.ae

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