In December, Emirates SkyCargo became the first e-freight-compliant carrier in the Middle East. Today, having successfully handled more than 1,000 e-freight shipments, it is the leading airline worldwide in terms of the number of e-freight consignments carried each week.

e-freight has been adopted by numerous freight forwarders sending cargo both to and through the carrier’s Dubai hub. The thousandth e-freight shipment was sent by Dubai based Allport Cargo from Dubai to London Heathrow. To date, the leading freight forwarder network-wide is DHL Global Forwarding with nearly 400 shipments on Emirates SkyCargo alone.

Forwarders who send traffic using e-freight enjoy the benefits of a faster service through reduced cycle times; greater reliability and accuracy with its one-time electronic data entry at point of origin; better visibility as electronic documentation allows for online track and trace functionality; and Customs benefits as the number of fines are reduced and deposits are no longer required. On top of these benefits, there is the added financial stimulus for Dubai based customers whereby Customs does not retain the forwarders’ deposits.

It is estimated that e-freight saves the industry US$1.2 billion annually through reduced inventories and document processing cost savings.

Dubai Customs, Emirates SkyCargo and Dnata have been working closely with Dubai’s freight forwarding community to encourage the uptake of e-freight.

Emirates SkyCargo has been a strong supporter of IATA e-freight since the concept was first tabled. There are now airports in 16 countries that are e-freight enabled, including Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Canada and the US.

Emirates SkyCargo is represented in Malta by Cassar & Cooper Limited. Emirates flies on a daily schedule from Malta to Dubai via Larnaca, Cyprus. Enquiries on Emirates SkyCargo can be made at Air Cargo House, Ganni Vassallo Street, Luqa, on telephone number 2166 0102, or at [email protected].