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  January 13th, 2016 | Written by

No Bridge Too Far for Emirates SkyCargo

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  • Emirates SkyCargo was awarded a charter to carry equipment from Tokyo to Entebbe.
  • Cargo carried by Emirates weighed 84 tons and consisted of machinery and steel parts for the bridge.
  • Uganda bridge project is one of the biggest developments in central and east Africa.
  • Once bridge across Nile is completed transport flows linking Uganda and its neighbors are expected to ease.

Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, has demonstrated its capability to handle all types of cargo, with a load of heavy machinery and steel parts for a new bridge currently being constructed across the Nile River in Uganda.

The carrier was awarded the charter by a Japanese construction company to carry the heavy equipment from Tokyo’s Narita Airport to Entebbe in late December, via the cargo carrier’s hub in Dubai. The cargo, weighing about 84 tons, consisted of machinery, including a winch, down-the-hole hammer, and steel parts for the bridge.

The cable-stayed bridge, currently one of the biggest bridge developments in central and east Africa, is a project of the government of Uganda with support from the government of Japan, and is located at Jinja near the source of the Nile. Once completed the bridge is expected to improve transportation flows on the Northern Corridor route which links Uganda and its neighbors Burundi, Rwanda, and eastern DRC to Kenya.

“This was a very high profile charter for what clearly is a very important project in Uganda,” said Ravishankar Mirle, Emirates cargo vice president for the Far East and Australasia. “We were delighted to be entrusted by the construction company to move this load, and prove that Emirates SkyCargo has the capability and capacity to move large and outsized cargo, requiring careful planning. Our field teams in Japan and Uganda along with our Dubai based Freighter and Charters and hub operations teams worked very hard to ensure the success of this charter.

“Emirates SkyCargo has carried many outsized items of cargo over the years, from helicopters, to ship rudders, aircraft engines and even a yacht’s mast, among others, so we have a lot of experience in managing this type of cargo,” he added.

To carry the cargo, Emirates SkyCargo used one of its Boeing 777 Freighter aircraft, which is capable of carrying over 100 tons of cargo per flight. The aircraft is one of the most modern and technologically advanced freighters available, with its wide main deck enabling access for outsized cargo and larger consignments.

Emirates SkyCargo operates a fleet of 15 freighters, including two Boeing 747-400Fs and 13 Boeing 777Fs, that operate from their base at Emirates SkyCentral, located in the logistics district of Dubai South, from where they service over 50 scheduled freighter destinations around the world.