The freighter, fully-owned by Emirates SkyCargo and sporting its livery, will serve two destinations in India ' Bangalore and Delhi, and two destinations in Pakistan ' Islamabad and Lahore.
The second A310F has wrought a significant change in the cargo division's schedule to India's IT hub Bangalore, which now features direct non-stop flights twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The freighter will serve India's capital city New Delhi with a second service every Thursday. The A310F also will fly to both Islamabad and Lahore, offering one additional weekly service each, on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively. Freighter services to Islamabad have increased to three times a week; while Lahore now has flights two times a week.
The freighter has helped Emirates SkyCargo boost its services to Africa, adding a second frequency every Tuesday to the capacity-hungry Khartoum market, and returning to Dubai via Sana'a.
Hiran Perera, Emirates' Vice President Cargo ' Freighters said, 'We were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the second A310F freighter to boost our capacity to the Indian subcontinent and to Sudan in Africa. We are extremely happy with the performance of our first A310F and are confident that we will be able to get the same results from the second one.'
'As the fleet expands, the current mix of A310Fs and Boeing 747Fs are providing much needed flexibility and quicker response times. We will now be able to satisfy our regional customers' demand for freighter charter services, help pump up volumes and capacity on short notice, and move speedily during times of crises, such as the spate of recent natural disasters faced by the region.'
Boosting existing capacity, the new service will help Islamabad and Lahore export larger volumes of surgical equipment and leather goods as well as readymade garments; and import raw materials and spares needed to support Pakistan's manufacturing industry.
From Delhi, meat, handicrafts, leather, knitwear and hosiery; and from Bangalore garments and textiles, cut flowers, silk fabrics, shoe uppers, machinery, electrical products, pharmaceuticals and valuable are all making their way on the freighter to Dubai and onwards to destinations in Europe and the Middle East.
The second A310F, with its gross payload of 39 tons, joins Emirates SkyCargo's fleet of seven freighters ' six wet-leased Boeing 747s and one A310F. With orders for three more Airbus freighters ' one A310F and two A380Fs ' and eight Boeing 777Fs, Emirates SkyCargo is looking to expand its total freighter fleet to around 20 freighters by 2012.
