Emirates Plans Expansion of Cargo Operation After a Record Year

Emirates plans to launch freighter operations in Narita, Japan, and two weekly flights to Osaka.

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, is setting its flights to reach even greater heights in the skies. Emirates SkyCargo, the Emirates cargo division, made plans to expand its cargo operations to meet the increased demand after the e-commerce demand boom.

Emirates SkyCargo, the global leader in air freight services, operates two world-class cargo terminals in Dubai with a total capacity of over 2.3 million tons annually.

Badr Abbas, Divisional Senior Vice President at Emirates SkyCargo, stated that the expansion follows after a strong performance in 2024, among the best years for air cargo.

Abbas commented that it was ‘one the best results’, after seeing the Emirates SkyCargo’s 2024 financial results.

He added that it showed strong performance from growing e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, and perishables. The air cargo company’s expansion plans in the upcoming years will provide more space and capacity to expand.  

He mentioned the company is expecting multiple new aircraft over the next two years, referring to the order of 10 new Boeing 777 freighters made last year.

The order of new freights will double the current freighter capacity by the end of 2026 to sustain the operations of 21 freighters.

Abbas stated that Emirates SkyCargo has also engaged in wet leases for brand-new Boeing 747 freighters to meet the immediate needs.

Abbas mentioned that the airline is exploring options for next-generation aircraft, such as the Airbus A350 freighter and the Boeing 777-8 freighter, keeping an eye out for future freighter acquisition.

He explained that the company is conducting a comprehensive evaluation and reviewing all the available aircraft options to guarantee they are fully prepared to meet the market’s growing demands.

He adds that the company will introduce new freighter destinations over the next few years. They recently declared Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, as one of the freighter destinations to meet pharmaceutical and seafood demands from that area.

Emirates plans to launch freighter operations in Narita, Japan, and two weekly flights to Osaka.

He claims they will be the first airline to link Narita and the Middle East and predicts a lot of potential growth in Narita, the Middle East, and Japan. He explained that they will use one weekly freighter flight to Japan using one of its Boeing 777s.

Emirates recently undertook operations in Edinburgh, Madagascar, and Lagos. Abbas stated SkyCargo is collaborating with the Dubai government to sweeten the infrastructure at the new Al Maktoum International Airport, which is to become the ‘world’s largest cargo hub’ with a total capacity of 12 million tonnes of cargo.

With the tic-for-tac tariffs between the US and China, is there anything not being impacted by the ongoing trade war? But Abbas is quite optimistic about it.

He says it is too early to predict the long-term impact, but at the same time, they have had four decades of experience dealing with these external challenges.

They expect an increase in air cargo volumes in 2025, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasting a 5.5% rise in global cargo.

In response to a question about whether the airlines have any strategies to address the increase in tariffs if implemented after a 90-day pause by the US government, Abbas mentioned that they are monitoring the market closely and are flexible to reallocate some of their capacity.

He added that they were always flexible during their 40 years of operations and had nothing to do with the recent announcements (referring to the US-China trade war).

They have been serving 248 destinations across more than 80 countries. They operate 38 dedicated freighter-only routes with passenger flights, which provides them with global flexibility and demand.