Saudia Cargo kicked off a twice-a-week service to Denmark’s Copenhagen, utilizing passenger planes to move freight as part of efforts to expand its route in Scandinavia for pharmaceuticals and perishables.

In a statement, it said that Saudia Airlines B777-300 passenger planes with 140-ton payload capacity per flight are being utilized as “preighters” on the route scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday — the inaugural flight took off on May 22.

Increased demand in Scandinavia

“We have seen a growing demand for air cargo in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. And we believe that Copenhagen, as a central location in the Scandinavian region, is an ideal route to capture business from all these countries,” Saudia Cargo Chief Cargo Officer Teddy Zebitz, a Danes, himself said.

“For Denmark and Sweden, we’re focusing on pharmaceuticals while in Norway, we’re looking at transporting perishables like Salmon which the country is very well known for,” he added.

Zebitz noted that Saudia Cargo’s freighters “stand ready to timely and efficiently transport supplies to Copenhagen and between Scandinavia” — as he noted the carrier's network across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, particularly in China, and India.

Saudia noted that the new flights are seen to boost Scandinavia’s import and export business amid continuing global recovery efforts in the post-pandemic era.

Saudi Arabia and Europe have robust bilateral trade relations boosted by regular cargo and passenger flights between them. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Europe is also highly valued for its pharmaceutical products, medicines, cars and trucks, tech products, machinery and equipment, food, among many other things.

Commenting on Saudia Cargo’s new flights to Denmark’s capital, Saudia Cargo Director Kenneth Fuhrmann, said, “We hope these new flights will yield to better business between the destinations and create more opportunities. Air cargo facilitates one-third of the global trade and we, at Saudia Cargo, take our role in transporting goods across the world very seriously.”

This is the first commercial flight from Saudia Cargo to Copenhagen and the carrier noted that the airport expressed hope that passenger flights will soon follow once restrictions are lifted.

“This is in fact the first commercial flight that Saudia Cargo is operating to and from Copenhagen and Denmark. With two weekly departures, we will not only be able to give the Danish market a good and quick connection to Saudi Arabia, but also to several international connections from Riyadh and Jeddah,” said Johan Toreheim, Managing Director at Euro Cargo Aviation, the company's GSSA in Scandinavia.