Emirates SkyCargo and Avianca are developing a "deeper partnership" with the launch of a new South American trade lane for the Middle East carrier, a weekly Boeing 777 freighter service to Bogota.
The Colombian capital will become Emirates SkyCargo’s sixth cargo destination in South America and its third dedicated cargo destination in the continent for the Dubai-based operator.
Flight EK 9930 will arrive in Bogota at 22.00 hours local time on Wednesday and will depart from the city at 00.05 hours local time on Thursday morning.
The Middle East carrier is working with Colombian airline Avianca for the freighter service which will see the Latin American carrier "commercialize the capacity" on the freighter’s return leg from Bogota to Maastricht.
In a statement, Emirates SkyCargo said that it is working with Avianca "on developing a deeper partnership where Emirates SkyCargo will assist Avianca for transporting cargo from Latin America across its well-developed network in the Middle East, Africa and Asia region, while Avianca will help Emirates SkyCargo strengthen its reach in the South American market".
Hiran Perera, Emirates senior vice president, cargo planning & freighters, said: “We welcome Bogota to our global network of over 40 scheduled weekly freighter destinations.
“South America is one of our main focus regions and we believe that there is a lot of potential for further growth in demand for air cargo capacity in this region.
“We are also delighted to be working with Avianca for this freighter service and we look forward to strengthening our partnership to facilitate more trade between customers in South America and the rest of the world.”
In South America, Emirates SkyCargo currently transports cargo on its passenger and freighter services to and from Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Viracopos and Quito.
With the addition of Bogota, the air cargo carrier will be able to offer a weekly cargo capacity of close to 500 tonnes to South American customers.
