Allowing greater numbers of airfreight operators access to airports creates wider economic benefits for the country concerned, while restricting access hampers economic growth. “It is an established fact that the existence of an ‘open skies’ airport gives increasing capacity and grows not only the local economy but also the regional economy,” asserts Emirates Airlines divi- sional senior VP: Cargo Ram Menen.

For Emirates, the African example of this is Kenya, with its policy regarding Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at Nairobi. “Kenya is more open to letting [airfreight] capacity come in,” he points out. “When the environment is like that, the market grows. Other African countries are not so open.”

Emirates started carrying airfreight to Nairobi in 1996, using the holds on their passenger airliners. Today, in addition to the capacity of the holds of their passenger jets, the airline operates four dedicated widebody cargo aircraft from Nairobi each week, carrying Kenyan exports to Amsterdam (two aircraft) and to Dubai (the other two aircraft), for distribution across Europe and the Middle East, respectively.

“Our main business in East Africa is the outbound business from Nairobi,” highlights Emirates regional cargo manager: East Africa Khalid Al Hinai. “Although Ethiopia is becoming important for outbound cargo, there is steady growth out of East Africa, but especially from Nairobi.” In East Africa, Emirates oper- ates airfreight services to and from Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Eldoret (also in Kenya) and Entebbe, as well as Nairobi.

Most of the traffic out of Kenya is fresh vegetables, other agricultural produce and flowers. “This is a round-the-year business for Kenya, due to the climate,” explains Al Hinai. A single Boeing 747-400ERF freighter can carry up to 115 t of flowers from Nairobi to Amster-dam in one flight. Emirates has operated “paperless” (all shipments processed electronically) freighter flights from the Kenyan capital since April 2011.

Airfreight inbound to East Africa is more evenly spread. “Inbound is pretty much equal for all East African destinations,” he reports. However, Nairobi remains in first place, with three freighter flights a week from Dubai.

Africa in general is an increasingly important market for the airline. Its other African airfreight services are with Abidjan, Accra, Cairo, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dakar, Djibouti, Durban, Harare, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Lagos, Lilongwe, Luanda, Lusaka, Tripoli and Tunis, as well as Mauritius and the Seychelles. “The Middle East and Africa are growing,” highlights Al Hinai. “So there is potential for our airline to grow.”

Emirates actively seeks to increase the business of its customers. “We’re in the transportation business,” points out Menen. “We try and act as a catalyst in growing trade, introducing our customers to new markets. We can provide information to customers on new markets very quickly. That way, we hope to grow our business. And that’s the value-add to our customers.”

The airline’s airfreight division is named Emirates SkyCargo, and is one of the world’s fastest-growing airfreight carriers. At the recent Air Cargo Africa 2013 conference, held next to OR Tambo International Airport, east of Johannesburg, it was named Global Cargo Airline of the Year. The award was made by the organisers of the conference, the STAT Trade Times, part of the Navi Mumbai, India-based STAT Media group. It has been presenting such awards since 2006.

However, the publication does not select the winner – that is done by its global readership.
“Many thanks go to all the readers who voted for Emirates SkyCargo,” said Menen when receiving the award. “Winning this award is a direct endorsement by our customers of our continuous drive and focus on delivering the highest levels of service.”