October 15, 2019: Emirates SkyCargo has launched Emirates Delivers, a new e-commerce delivery platform that allows customers shopping from multiple online retailers in the US to consolidate their purchases and have the goods delivered to a home or office address.

In an exclusive interview with STAT Trade Times at Air Cargo Europe at Munich in June this year, Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president, Emirates SkyCargo has underscored on launching an ecommerce platform. During the interview, he stated, "We will be looking at creating an ecommerce delivery platform for a lot of new emerging ecommerce companies based in Dubai. With the new platform, we will become their back-office fulfilment and for sorting capability. Instead of them investing in that we will do that investment and they can then focus on their business areas such as marketing and selling it to the end consumers."

Now available to the individual or small business customers in the UAE, Emirates Delivers supports Dubai's vision to become as a global hub for e-commerce, as envisioned under the Dubai Silk Road Strategy announced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai and chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai. Dubai Silk Road Strategy aims to strengthen Dubai's position as a key trade and logistics hub. The strategy comprises nine initiatives and 33 projects that will involve the collaboration of Emirates airlines, Dubai Airports, Dubai South, Dubai Free Zones (DFZ) Council, Dubai Maritime City Authority, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, DP World, Dubai Municipality, and Jebel Ali Free Zone.

Emirates Delivers is a fast, reliable and cost-effective e-commerce shipping solution that is targeted both at individual customers as well as small businesses who regularly shop online for their personal or business needs. It is an open e-commerce fulfilment platform that can also be used by other e-commerce businesses and logistics integrators.

In a release issued by the company, Sultan said, "Emirates SkyCargo is delighted to be the first international cargo airline in the world to develop a dedicated e-commerce delivery platform. Currently, Emirates Delivers enables consumers to purchase their favourite products from any US-based online retail store and have it delivered in the UAE. The launch of Emirates Delivers is in line with our strategy to roll out specialised and innovative air transportation products targeted at industry verticals and with our efforts to position Dubai as a global e-commerce fulfilment hub for customers based in the Middle East, Asia and Africa."

"The e-commerce industry has grown by more than 150 percent in the last five years and we have been working with industry partners to develop an ideal delivery platform that can harness the power of Emirates' modern fleet, expansive global network and multiple flight frequencies together with using Dubai's strategic position to deliver optimal value to our end customers. We are actively working on expanding the availability of Emirates Delivers to a larger number of source and destination markets in the near future."

To use Emirates Delivers, customers have to go through a free registration process at www.emiratesdelivers.com. On completion of registration, members are allocated a unique and free Emirates Delivers mailing address in the USA. Customers can have their online purchases from US e-commerce retailers delivered to this address where the goods can be stored free of charge for up to 30 days. Customers have the flexibility to create a shipping request anytime within these 30 days and have their purchases consolidated into one parcel and have this delivered to their designated UAE address. The packages will be transported to Dubai on Emirates SkyCargo's flights from the US and will then be delivered to the shopper's doorstep within 3-5 days of the creation of the shipping request.

Through Emirates Delivers, customers can save money through cheaper shipping costs both when shipping within the US from the retailer to their Emirates Delivers mailing address and through the competitive shipping rates offered by Emirates Delivers to move goods from the US to Dubai. Customers can also benefit from reduced shipping weights thanks to repacking through which packaging material from each individual shipment is removed and the goods are packed into one consolidated box.

Emirates SkyCargo offers cargo capacity on Emirates' fleet of over 265 modern wide-body aircraft including 12 freighters: 11 B777-Fs and one B747F. The carrier operates to 13 destinations in the US, offering cargo capacity on over 100 weekly flights including scheduled freighter services to destinations including Columbus, Chicago, Houston, and New York.

The air cargo carrier operates two state-of-the-art cargo terminals at its hub in Dubai and has developed specialised air transportation products for specific industry verticals. Emirates SkyCargo is a key facilitator of global trade and during the FY2018/19, the air cargo carrier transported over 2.7 million tonnes of cargo across its global network of over 155 destinations spread over six continents through its hub in Dubai.

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