Emirates SkyCargo Defies Market Trends with 7% Growth in Airfreight Volumes
Emirates SkyCargo saw its airfreight volumes grow in 2023 – despite the weak market conditions – and has plans to continue investing in its fleet and services next year.
The carrier said its cargo volumes increased by 7% year on year to 1.18m tonnes between January and mid-December in 2023, while the overall air cargo market is expected by IATA to have declined by around 3-4%.
Like many carriers with a large passenger fleet, Emirates’ cargo business benefitted from the ramp-up of bellyhold operations following the Covid pandemic.
Also, in the first quarter of this year, Emirates SkyCargo expanded its cargo capacity with the lease of two Boeing 747-400 freighters to meet customer demand for additional cargo capacity.
These aircraft join its fleet of 11 Boeing 777Fs and 251 passenger aircraft.
Freighter fleet expansion forms a major part of Emirates SkyCargo’s growth plans in the future.
The carrier has also ordered four new 777-200Fs that are expected to arrive in 2024, plus a fifth 777-200F in 2025.
This is in addition to the 310 widebody passenger aircraft that Emirates has on order, which will see deliveries of new aircraft and new cargo capacity through to 2035.
The carrier also extended its reach in Canada and North America through an interline cooperation with Air Canada Cargo.
Overall, Emirates SkyCargo has plans to add 20 new destinations to its freighter network.
In a summary of the year, Emirates SkyCargo pointed out that it had launched two new bespoke products under its Life Sciences and Healthcare vertical.
Emirates Vital is designed to transport clinical trials, cell and gene therapies, and human samples.
Emirates Medical Devices enables the transport of everything from pacemakers to MRIs, following GDP specifications.
Emirates SkyCargo has since uplifted almost 1,000 tonnes of highly sensitive cargo, using these two products.
Plus, e-commerce service Emirates Delivers expanded operations to Kuwait, providing door-to-door international delivery of items purchased from the UK and the US to e-commerce shoppers.
Emirates SkyCargo said it is preparing to scale up Emirates Delivers in 2024, as it has noted the wider Middle East region has previously been underserved when it comes to e-commerce shipments.
Advancing digitalisation is also a focus for the cargo airline. In addition to its own online booking platform on e-SkyCargo, the airline’s capacity is now available on digital marketplaces CargoAi and WebCargo.
Plus in October, Emirates SkyCargo launched a host-to-host connection with freight forwarder Kuehne+Nagel, providing direct access to its products and services on Kuehne+Nagel’s internal booking engine.
There are also plans to further expand digitally in early 2024.
Sustainability and the environment will be continued areas of investment next year, the carrier said.
Ongoing initiatives include on-ground programmes that ensure 75% of all plastic sheeting in the airline’s Dubai-based facilities is recycled through to optimising the way aircraft are loaded.
Emirates SkyCargo divisional senior vice president Nabil Sultan said: “2023 was a pivotal year for Emirates SkyCargo. Despite ongoing fluctuations in air freight, long-term trends indicate that the industry is growing at a rate of 3 – 5% year-on-year.
“Emirates SkyCargo, however, continues to outperform the market growth, uplifting over 1,183,000 tonnes from January to mid-December, a solid 7% increase compared to last year.
“Looking to the future, we are well-positioned to steadily scale up operations in 2024, continuing our strategic growth to ensure we lead the industry in solutions that are fast, reliable, flexible, and efficient.”
