Emirates SkyCargo has formally opened Emirates SkyCentral, its cargo terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport.

Located 77km from Dubai International Airport at the Logistics District in Dubai South (the recently rebranded Dubai World Central), SkyCentral is the base for Emirates’ freighter fleet of two Boeing 747-400ERFs and 13 Boeing 777Fs.

“The opening of Emirates SkyCentral is an important milestone for us, as it represents our vision for future growth and firmly establishes Emirates SkyCargo as the world’s leading air cargo carrier across all its operational areas,” said Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president of cargo at Emirates. “The space it currently occupies on the land allocated to us at Dubai South is part of a much bigger area, which we can develop over time to increase our cargo handling capacity to achieve our vision of 12 million tonnes annually by 2050, from the current 2.3 million tonnes.”

SkyCargo uses 47 GPS-equipped trucks to transport cargo between SkyCentral and Emirates’ bellyhold cargo operation at its Cargo Mega Terminal at Dubai International Airport, along a bonded virtual corridor. The transit time from the arrival of a shipment to its departure from freighter to bellyhold and vice versa is five hours, according to Emirates.

Key features of the SkyCentral facility include 12 aircraft stands that are located directly in front of the terminal building, quick dolly transfer systems that can simultaneously handle six ULDs, and temperature-controlled storage zones that occupy an area of 15,000m².

Emirates’ freighters fly to more than 50 destinations around the world from SkyCentral.