GAC Abu Dhabi, a leading shipping and logistics service provider, recently held a ceremony to mark the change of its airport office to free zone status, boosting the benefits already enjoyed by the company’s existing customers.

The new status of the office located within Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone’s (ADAFZ) cargo terminal is also expected to attract new clients, said a statement from the company.

GAC Abu Dhabi has had an operations base at the Abu Dhabi International Airport since 1994. Its air freight business goes back even further, to 1969, when Al Bateen airport first began operations. Its new free zone operation means that cargo can now transit and be stored within the free zone, and be transferred to any other free zones in the UAE, without GAC’s customers having to pay customs duty.

Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone (ADAFZ) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Airports.

Thanks to its strategic location in the Middle East between the east and west, Abu Dhabi is accessible by sea, air and land from many major cities in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa, making it a vital element of a competitive freight network, it said.

GAC Abu Dhabi offers air freight and customs clearance services from its free zone office at Abu Dhabi International Airport and a comprehensive range of shipping and logistics services from its main office at Mina Zayed and branch offices at Ruwais and Sila, it added.

Göran Eriksson, managing director of GAC Abu Dhabi, said: “We are in business to help our customers achieve their strategic goals. We have been doing that by meeting their speed-to-market targets with our presence and 24/7 services at the airport since 1994.”

“Now, we have now gone a step further by registering our free zone branch to help our customers further reduce costs,” he said.

Adel Al Taheri, acting general manager of Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone (ADAFZ), said: “Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone is at the heart of diverse economic activity in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, with unrivalled services and facilities for logistics firms and many other vital industries that provide access to global markets.”

“We are pleased to welcome GAC to the free zone, and are confident that its customer base will see the benefits,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service