Emirates SkyCargo expects to increase its market share in the Chennai sector with the recent launch of its second freighter to Dubai. For the last ten years, the airline has been operating one freighter on the Dubai-Chennai-Hong Kong-Dubai route. However, with the growing cargo movement in and out of Chennai, the airline launched a direct freighter between Chennai and Dubai a few days ago.
With this, Emirates directly connects both Eastern and Western regions out of Chennai, said Anthony Gonsalves, Cargo Manager, Tamil Nadu, Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of the Dubai-based Emirates.
There has been a major change in the cargo profile out of Chennai. In the past, the major cargo were textiles and garments while it is now telecom and auto components. “The trend is more towards telecom,” he told Business Line. For instance, nearly 20 per cent of cargo carried by Emirates out of Chennai is for Nokia, he said.
On the import side, the cargo include pharmaceutical, machinery and spare parts from destinations in the US, Europe and China, he said.
Gonsalves said, the second freighter will help the airline carry an additional 400 tonnes of cargo out of Chennai. The monthly average outbound cargo carried by Emirates has increased to 1,800 tonnes, he said. The airline’s share in overall cargo out of Chennai was 11 per cent, and it expects to reach 13 per cent by the end of this fiscal.
Emirates operates 21 weekly flights from Chennai to Dubai offering 316 tonnes of cargo capacity in the belly-hold of the aircraft, as well as two weekly scheduled freighters, he said.
Gonsalves said the airline now operates four freighters out of India — two from Chennai, and one each from Mumbai and Kolkata. On an ad-hoc basis, a freighter calls in at Thiruvananthapuram as well.
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