Airline Cargo Division Predicts Rise in Freight Tonnage

UKRAINE – Whilst many countries are struggling with the rigours of slow growth, the country’s economy, linked strongly with development of its trade with Russia, has continued to improve since some very dark days in recent history. Now the cargo division of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) say the recovery, coupled with anticipation of an additional rise in freight traffic due to the forthcoming football European Championships, has prompted it to inaugurate new cargo services to Delhi, Ashkhabad and Tehran this winter.

UIA, which also commenced Kiev-Moscow-Kiev and Kiev-Samara air services in July, exceeded its total 2010 tonnage volume within the first seven months of this year. By the end of September 2011, it expects to have exceeded its 25,000 tonne target for the year and forecasts a strong fourth quarter. The new routes from Kiev to Turkmenistan, India and Iran, starting in Q4 2011, have been strongly welcomed by the European Cargo Services (ECS) Group, UIA Cargo’s exclusive global cargo general sales agency partner and both operations expect them to attract significant cargo volumes.

UIA operates a modern fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft connecting Ukraine with the key cities of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the CIS. UIA operates over 500 flights a week and now offers more than 3,000 worldwide destinations through connections with its international partners’ flights. The airline’s Boeing 737SF-300 freighter offers a further 16,000 kilos a day on its scheduled route between Liege-Vienna-Kiev, feeding UIA Cargo’s international network.

Management at UIA and ECS are confident that the 2012 European Championships, being co-hosted with Poland, will bring further opportunities and Mac Warner, ECS Group Director commented:

“We are achieving remarkable growth with UIA Cargo this year, which reflects both its growing network and the general recovery in the country’s economy. A great deal of confidence is returning to the market and the launch of new routes to India, Turkmenistan and Iran provide a significant opportunity to feed more volume into the network. One of the reasons why UIA and ECS have enjoyed such a long and successful relationship is the continued development of both businesses and, most significantly, our ability to generate cargo for UIA across our network of 47 offices in 30 countries.”