Dnata Cargo, the cargo-handling operator at Dubai Airport, is doing its bit to assist relief flights to Pakistan. According to a press release issued here on Wednesday, in the last two weeks Dnata has put extra hands on deck to facilitate the increased activity at the terminals and also waived all acceptance and documentation charges for shippers of relief goods.
At the Freezone Logistics Center (FLC) alone, Dnata has handled more than 30 fully laden freighters, or some 543 tonnes of relief goods to Islamabad. Almost all the 45 operators based at the FLC had at least one flight carrying humanitarian aid, using AN-12, IL76 and IL18 aircraft to uplift tents, clothes, blankets, food, medicines and water to the affected areas.
Major operation of relief flights included Jet Set, Fab Air, Royal Airlines, Aerospace, Zeshm Air and Galaxy Air.
Dnata also has a well-co-ordinated operation to handle the continuous flow of relief goods at the Main Cargo Terminal, where Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) alone has carried some 70 tonnes of relief goods to date.
"We have also chartered additional two IL76 aircraft to uplift another 77 tonnes of humanitarian aid from the Pakistan Consulate," said PIA Sales Promotions Officer, Syed Nisar Zahedy.
Jean Pierre De Pauw, Senior Vice President, Dnata Cargo said "on one particular challenging day we handled humanitarian cargo from 27 trucks and five 40-feet trailers which arrived simultaneously with relief supplies from various aid agencies."
Pauw said many of the Dnata Cargo team put in extra hours and effort to handle the extra load ensuring that all the cargo was processed efficiently and get to its destination without delay.
Warehousing space constraints was also solved with creativity, by deploying additional forklifts and tractors to unload the cargo from trucks arriving at the docks, and directly loading them onto pallets which were then promptly towed to the ramp area, he added.-PR