Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, was named the ‘Highly Acclaimed Global Cargo Airline of the Year’ at the Air Cargo Africa awards held in Johannesburg on 22 February 2017. With this honour, Emirates SkyCargo continues its decade of domination having won awards at Air Cargo Africa four times in a row since 2011. The award was accepted by Khalid Al Hinai, Emirates vice president, Cargo Commercial Africa at the ceremony held at The Barnyard Theatre and attended by senior cargo executives from all over the continent.

Air Cargo Africa is an international biennial air cargo event organised by STAT Times, a leading international multimodal transport publication, and serves as an industry platform to showcase one of the key sectors of the economy in the African region. The awards in each category were decided after a two stage online voting process by readers of The STAT Times. The award recognises Emirates SkyCargo’s constant efforts to create new benchmarks in the air freight industry by offering customers excellence in service delivery through modern infrastructure and innovative products.

Emirates SkyCargo offers state of the art cool chain capabilities for the transport of perishables such as fruits and vegetables. Emirates SkyCentral DWC – Emirates SkyCargo’s dedicated cargo terminal for freighter aircraft – has close to 15,000 square meters of dedicated storage space for temperature-sensitive goods such as pharmaceuticals, fresh fruits and vegetables and seafood. Emirates SkyCargo also operates 12 dedicated reefer trucks 24/7 between Dubai World Central and Dubai International Airport.

Through its global network of over 150 destinations, Emirates SkyCargo facilitates the exports of perishables from Africa to various parts of the world making an important contribution to the local economies. This includes fruits and vegetables transported from Kenya to the Middle East and the UK, meat from Ethiopia and Tanzania to the Middle East, fresh fish from South Africa, Senegal and Uganda to Europe, and strawberries, truffles and tomatoes from North Africa to the Middle East. The carrier also facilitates the movement of large volumes of fresh flowers from Kenya and other African flower growing nations to the rest of the world.

Last year, Emirates SkyCargo also launched Emirates SkyPharma – a purpose built facility for handling temperature sensitive pharmaceutical shipments. Emirates SkyCargo’s facilities for transporting pharmaceuticals through its hubs in Dubai are not only state of the art but also certified as complying with the highest industry standards (EU GDP Guidelines) by Bureau Veritas, Germany.

Emirates SkyCargo is the largest international airline cargo operator with a fleet of over 250 wide bodied aircraft, including 15 dedicated freighters- 13 Boeing 777-Fs and two B747-400ERFs. The carrier connects cargo customers across more than 80 countries in six continents through its hub in Dubai. A global facilitator of trade and commerce, Emirates SkyCargo operates dedicated freighter services to close to 50 global destinations in addition to offering cargo capacity on board its passenger flights.

Emirates SkyCargo has been at the forefront of the air cargo industry receiving a number of industry recognitions over the years.  In 2016 the carrier won the award for Overall Carrier of the Year at the Payload Asia Awards held in Hong Kong, the ‘Best Air Cargo Carrier- Middle East’ at the 2016 Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain (AFLAS) Awards held in Shanghai, the ‘Best Cargo Airline Middle East 2016’ at the World Air Cargo Awards in London and the ‘Diamond Award’ at the Air Cargo Excellence Awards 2016 in Berlin.