Dubai-based carrier adds freighter capacity and increases bellyhold operations to drive volume growth, but faces yield compression
Copyright: Emirates SkyCargo
Extra capacity helped Emirates increase its cargo volumes in the first half of the year, but the company reported pressure on yields.
The airline’s cargo division transported 1.25m tonnes of cargo in the first half of the year, which represents a 4% increase compared with the same period a year earlier.
The company said the increase came as it added three new Boeing 777 freighter aircraft, two of which were delivered in May.
According to the tracking website, Planespotters.net, the airline currently operates 11 777 freighters while it also wet leases Boeing 747 freighters.
As well as increasing its freighter fleet, the airline has also benefited from increased bellyhold capacity. Total capacity was up 5% year on year to 31.3bn available tonne kms, the airline said.
Meanwhile, the overall air cargo market has been growing this year. According to IATA, air cargo traffic was up 3.2% year on year over the first nine months.
The airline said that yields had also come under pressure in the first half of the year.
“Customer demand for Emirates SkyCargo’s specialised products and excellent network of freighter and bellyhold cargo operations remained steady,” Emirates said. ”However, cargo yields decreased by 6% due to softening demand in some market segments amidst tariff concerns.”
Emirates and SkyCargo covered a network of 153 airports at the end of September.
Meanwhile, sister company dnata saw the volume of cargo it handled increase by 3% year on year in the first half to 1.6m tonnes.
