Emirates uplifts record-breaking 62 tonnes in B777-300ER belly from Karachi to Dubai

April 9, 2020: Emirates SkyCargo has broken a global record for maximum cargo loaded in the lower deck of a Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft. The SkyCargo team in Karachi, Pakistan transported just under 62 tonnes of cargo, primarily food items including vegetables, fish and meat, on a single flight bound to Dubai.

The air cargo carrier currently operates flights to 51 destinations globally, out of which 19 cities are served by the Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 freighter aircraft offering up to 100 tonnes of capacity per flight and 38 destinations are served by dedicated cargo flights on Emirates' Boeing 777 passenger aircraft offering up to 50 tonnes belly capacity.

For the month April alone, the airline operated 30 charter flights to 20 global destinations.

Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president, Emirates, said: "We have particularly ramped up operations for transporting cargo in the bellyhold of our passenger aircraft in the last two weeks. Emirates SkyCargo has been expanding its network on a daily basis and some of the latest destinations for our cargo flights on passenger aircraft include Bangkok, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Singapore and Taipei. Air cargo remains the fastest means of connecting essential supplies to those that need them and our expanded network allows for increased connectivity across different global origins and destinations."

During the week ending 4 April 2020, Emirates SkyCargo had operated more than 160 flights on its freighter aircraft and close to 90 flights on its passenger aircraft. The following week, the air cargo carrier had operated close to 160 flights on its passenger aircraft.

Charter operations
Over and above scheduled operations, Emirates SkyCargo has also operated an increasing number of special charter flights for cargo both on its freighter and passenger aircraft. Since the start of April, the carrier has executed more than 30 charter flights connecting over 20 global destinations. The main commodities transported on the charter flights are medical supplies including face masks, protective covers, sanitisers, equipment for hospitals in addition to pharmaceuticals, raw materials and spare parts.

In the space of three days between 7 and 9 April, some of the notable charters operated by Emirates SkyCargo included:

100 tonnes of masks and other protective supplies transported from Guangzhou to Dubai on 7 April. This was part of several other charters to bring medical supplies into the UAE.

Close to 100 tonnes of medical supplies including masks and other protective equipment transported on 8 April from Shanghai to Mumbai on the Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 freighter

100 tonnes of protective equipment transported from Shanghai to Dubai on a Boeing 777 freighter on 8 April. The supplies will then be flown to Bucharest on 10 and 11 April on four separate flights on the Boeing 777 passenger aircraft.

Over seven tonnes of medical supplies transported to Los Angeles on 8 April in the belly hold of an Emirates' Boeing 777 passenger aircraft. This was also the first dedicated cargo flight on a passenger aircraft operated by Emirates SkyCargo to North America.

Close to 1 million Covid-19 testing kits to be transported to Sao Paulo on 9 April. An earlier shipment containing 500,000 kits was transported on 30 March.