Emirates SkyCargo has launched new cargo services from Dubai to Budapest. The capital of Hungary has one of the largest economies in central and eastern Europe and becomes the latest trade lane in Emirates SkyCargo’s extensive worldwide network of more than 140 destinations.
Emirates’ daily flight to the city is operated with a wide-body A330-200 and offers 168 tonnes of cargo capacity per week. On its first flight into the country, Emirates SkyCargo mainly carried consolidated cargo from the Far East and points in India, including a shipment of pharmaceuticals from Hyderabad.
“Budapest has an excellent geographic location and is a gateway to other central and eastern European logistics centres. The launch of a daily flight to Budapest will give us an expanded footprint in central Europe, and will complement our cargo services into Warsaw, Prague and Vienna. Trucking services can also feed offline markets in the region through Budapest, and onto our flight to Dubai, for further distribution across our network,” said Robert Siegel, Emirates vice president, Cargo Commercial, Europe and Russia.
“This offers a world of new trading opportunities for businesses in Hungary and across our network, especially the automotive industry which accounts for about 18 per cent of total exports from the country. We are well positioned to support the export market as we have strong networks in Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The UAE is also Hungary’s largest Arab trading partner with annual trade between the two countries at around US$1.2 billion,” he added.
Top exports out of Hungary are machinery spare parts, hi-tech equipment and electronics and spare parts for land vehicles – which comprise about 70 per cent of the exports. The remaining 30 per cent are divided among industrial consumables, such as manufactured pipes, semi-manufactured steel and water/air pumps, food and beverage, generators and chemical products. Imports are dominated by semi-conductors, telecommunication devices and components and audio and video products, making up more than 70 per cent of the import market.
