DUBAI, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of United Arab Emirates (UAE) international carrier Emirates Airline, will add Santiago, Chile to its network of cargo destinations from July, the carrier said in a statement released Thursday.
Santiago will be Emirates SkyCargo's sixth destination in South America following Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Campinas, Buenos Aires and Ciudad del Este. The air cargo carrier will be offering customers up to 15 tonnes of cargo capacity on its Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.
With the launch of its services to Santiago, Emirates SkyCargo will be able to facilitate Chilean exports of salmon and other perishables to destinations on its global network.
Chile is the world's second largest producer of farmed salmon, and exports of salmon from the country were valued at over 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.
The UAE imports 90 percent of its food needs, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade.
Earlier this year, Majid Saif Al-Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said two-way non-oil trade between Dubai and countries in Latin America reached an all-time high of 4 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2017.
The new service will also offer "one of the fastest flight connections for cargo" from Chile to destinations in East Asia including China and countries in the Middle East through Dubai, Emirates said.
The main import commodities into Santiago are expected to be e-commerce shipments from East Asia.
In 2017, Emirates SkyCargo carried a total of 48,000 tonnes of cargo to and from South America helping local businesses connect with their customers across a network spanning over 155 cities across six continents.
Emirates SkyCargo is the world's largest international cargo airline operating a fleet of 268 aircraft.
