Emirates SkyCargo imports 34,000 tonnes of food into UAE

An Emirates SkyCargo 747 freighter. Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates Group, imported 34,000 tonnes of food into the UAE in the first four months of 2020, with 13,000 tonnes alone coming in between March and April.

Dubai: Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates Group, imported 34,000 tonnes of food into the UAE in the first four months of 2020, with 13,000 tonnes alone coming in between March and April.

Emirates said on Wednesday it has been helping bring in food into the UAE from 35 countries across the world to maintain supplies in the country amid the lockdown caused by the coronavirus.

“Despite the severe reduction in the number of flights we operate and the resultant reduction in the amount of cargo capacity we can work with, we have given top importance to maintain food supplies in the UAE as we consider this our responsibility,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president for cargo.

Emirates has been deploying its Boeing 777 freighter and Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft to import food and other supplies. Food imports into the UAE have been coming in from “major food production markets such as Australia, Egypt, India, Kenya, Pakistan, and many other countries.”

From those markets, 5,200 tonnes of food have been imported from Australia, including chilled meat and fruits. Around 2,500 tonnes of food came from Egypt, while another 4,000 tonnes came from India, and 2,5000 tonnes from Kenya. Close to 1,600 tonnes of salmon were imported from Norway, and over 4,500 tonnes of food came in from Pakistabn.

Emirates SkyCargo is currently operating flights to around 60 global destinations on a scheduled basis, and to other markets as charter operations.