Emirates SkyCargo to consolidate cargo operations at Dubai International Airport

March 31, 2020: Effective April 1, 2020, Emirates SkyCargo will consolidate all its cargo handling operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB), temporarily suspending operations at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), the terminal handling Emirates' freighter aircraft. The move is to streamline its cargo operations between its freighter flights and passenger freighters.

Between March and April, the carrier will also be operating nine freighter flights to Budapest as part of a charter to transport supplies such as face masks and equipment to Hungary.

From March 29, Emirates SkyCargo has started flying cargo-only passenger flights to Nairobi, Kenya; Entebbe, Uganda; Khartoum, Sudan; and Cairo, Egypt. In addition, it plans to fly a full freighter to Khartoum from April 1. From DXB, the carrier will operate two flights per week to Nairobi, Entebbe, and Khartoum, whereas 10 flights per week to Cairo. Further, in April, Khartoum will have an additional full freighter from DWC.

On March 30, 2020, an Emirates SkyCargo flight carrying close to 500,000 Covid-19 testing kits landed at Sao Paulo airport in Brazil. The kits were moved from Guangzhou via Dubai by the carrier. During the same week, Emirates also executed two special charters carrying almost 200 tonnes of medical supplies such as hand sanitisers and protective face masks from Hong Kong to Sydney while another flight transported pharmaceutical supplies to Karachi.

As part of a special charter operation, an Emirates B777 freighter transported close to 100 tonnes of relief material including hospital equipment to Milan and over 55 tonnes of highly temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals were flown to New York from Mumbai. 

In addition to transporting critical medical supplies around the world, dedicated cargo flights from Cairo, Egypt, and Nairobi, Kenya have also been transporting perishables to Dubai and onwards to other destinations within the Middle East.

 "Additionally, in order to consolidate operations and reduce costs in this new scenario, we have also temporarily shifted all our cargo handling operations to Dubai International Airport (DXB). Taken together we are making sure that we react more quickly to requests coming in from every part of the globe from our customers," Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice president, cargo said.