Ras Al Khaimah International Airport has announced the launch of Egypt Air Cargo freighter operations from today (September 8), with a weekly flight from Cairo.

In a ceremony conducted at the airport Engineer Sheikh Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi, chairman of Ras Al Khaimah Department of Civil Aviation, commended the progress the airport has made and welcomed Egypt Air to Ras Al Khaimah, said a statement from the airport.

Al Qasimi said: “We wholeheartedly welcome the national airline from our brotherly country of Egypt, and assure it of complete support from our teams here in Ras Al Khaimah to enable the smoothest of operations.”

“This, we hope, is a beginning of a long-term relationship, which will increase and further strengthen trade and economic ties between Ras Al Khaimah and Egypt,” he added.

Al Qasimi attributed this success to the support and vision of HH Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah.

Egypt Air Cargo’s chairman and CEO Captain Basem Gohar, said: “The UAE is changing the global economy by providing opportunities for Egypt Air’s cargo products and services, and encouraging and increasing the productivity of air transportation gateways.”

“This freighter operation to Ras Al Khaimah will provide a unifying vision and create opportunities to adapt further to the UAE’s economic development and service other gateway destinations,” he said.

He added: “We are keen to continue building Egypt Air Cargo’s reputation and impact in UAE, and are willing in the near future to increase our freighter operation, promoting Ras Al Khaimah as a high quality gateway transit centre which will benefit from traffic from the UAE to the Far East and beyond Egypt.”

“We will maintain our close association and further grow the successful trading relationship between our two respective countries,” he concluded.

2016 has been an exciting year for Ras Al Khaimah International Airport which has already seen the Emirate connected to more than 160 destinations worldwide following the startup of passenger operations for Qatar Airways and Air India Express, and the purple patch enjoyed by the UAE’s Northern Gateway looks set to continue.

RAK Airport CEO Mohammed Qazi, said: “We are pleased to welcome Egypt Air Cargo to our airport, and look forward to working closely with the airline to increase the frequencies and routes through RAK in the near future.”

“Cargo has always been high on our agenda, but finding right partner is always key.  With Egypt Air Cargo, we feel confident that we have a great partner to work with and grow the trade between the countries.  Current operations will be a weekly flight operating Cairo-Ras Al Khaimah-Mumbai-Cairo,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service