Sky Cargo, Emirates Airline's air freight division, believes there's strong potential for growth of its business in Malta, according to divisional senior vice-president of cargo Ram Menen.

As the second largest cargo carrier in terms of weight operating to the island after Air Malta, Sky Cargo runs a daily wide-bodied service to and from Dubai.

"It is important for us," Mr Menen said of the route, who was speaking on the sidelines of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport International Convention in Malta.

"In Malta, 90 per cent of the cargo travels through passenger aircraft bellies - that belly capacity is extremely important for the country," he told the Maltese Sunday Times.

"Much of the activity here is supply chain operations - our expertise in cargo is to create that business supply chain in itself. The sustainable activity that a country embarks on needs capacity, and we see a lot of opportunities here. It is in our interest that the country grows."

Sky Cargo currently flies seven freighters while Emirates has 139 passenger jetliners and US$49 billion in aircraft on order. Sixteen new freighters will join the fleet over the next few months, while a new aircraft is being delivered on the passenger side of the business every month.

According to Mr Menen, the fleet "allows the operation to up-size its capacity as the need arises to boost the core capability in passenger bellies," the report said.

Country manager Paul Fleri Soler added that the carrier was supporting many of Malta's new industries and was also engaged in transporting bulky aircraft parts for clients in the aviation industry.

With regard to the air cargo market's financial performance, the first quarter of 2010 proved stronger than anticipated, "although the ash cloud crisis will distort comparisons. Sky Cargo expects the last two quarters to be "extremely strong," with activity expected to return to 2008 levels by mid-2011, six months earlier than expected.

Mr Menen noted the US remained the largest consumer market which drove economies in the East. The 'wild card' elements to watch out for were aviation fuel prices and the effect the Greek crisis would have on currencies, the report said.

"A weaker Euro at this point in time will boost Europe's exports and help create a better balance of trade with the Far East," Mr Menen was quoted as saying.

"If the crisis had continued beyond a couple of years, there would have been concern on the globalisation process and there would have been more regionalisation, but globalisation is here to stay. It has recovered so quickly, the world will continue to leverage high productivity and cheaper labour skills in the east and we will see the globalisation of markets and industrialisation," he said.

Mr Menen added that India will be a major export market, and that both India and China will become strong consumer regions.

The report also noted that Sky Cargo regards the Middle East and Gulf countries to be very promising regions for its business, spurred by reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Africa, the carrier is boosting its distribution capabilities.

Back in his home market, Dubai is slated to officially open Dubai World Central, a 140-square-kilometre urban aviation community surrounding the world's largest airport, where one million people will live and work, on June 27.

The airport will be equipped with five runways to handle 13 million tonnes of air freight and 180 million passengers annually. A special feature will be the 10 kilometre freight corridor from Jebel Ali port with no customs interaction to allow for shorter delivery times.

Source: shipping online