The continuing boom in air cargo has spurred Emirates Airline to further increase its dedicated freighter fleet.
Emirates’ SkyCargo division plans to order a further six Boeing 777-300ER freighter conversions, to be undertaken by IAI in Abu Dhabi. This comes on top of an earlier order for four IAI-converted 777s announced in 2022.
Deliveries of the latest batch of conversions is scheduled to be completed by 2026, Emirates SkyCargo VP product and business development said.
The company is also taking delivery of its 12th Boeing-built 777F this month. The 777F is based on the 777-200 variant. The converted versions are based on the longer-fuselage -300ER, which gives enough internal space for six additional MD and four LD cargo positions.
Emirates SkyCargo’s business is growing through several main pillars, Lister said, including pharmaceuticals, fresh/perishable products, greater utilization of secondary hubs and greater use of multimodal transport.
On the multimodal front, freight flows from the Far East and West Asia arrive by ship at the UAE’s Jebel Ali port and are transferred by truck to connect with Emirates SkyCargo flights. Where that process could take two to three days pre-pandemic, Emirates has now slashed the transfer time to under three hours.
Related Content
