The national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Emirates Airline, has decided to establish a cargo business center at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.
Emirates has reportedly requested 90,000 square feet of space at the Karachi airport cargo terminal. The decision to establish a cargo hub in Karachi is in response to the growing demand from the cargo sector.
Currently, Emirates runs the largest cargo business in Karachi, with over 27,000 tonnes of cargo transported from Karachi alone in 2024.
On the other hand, due to lack of attention and proper planning, PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) was able to handle only 2,000 tonnes of cargo from Karachi in 2024.
Sources indicate that in response to Emirates’ request, the Airport Authority has started work on allocating space at the cargo terminal.
A month ago, Emirates officially launched its new travel store in Karachi, making it the airline’s first experiential retail concept rolled out in West Asia.
The store was inaugurated by Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations, West Asia and Indian Ocean, in the presence of Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) .
Bakheet Ateeq Al-Rumaithi, Consul General of the UAE in Karachi, who was also present at the event, highlighted the close ties between the UAE and Pakistan.
Speaking about participating in the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said, “We are more focused on our own airline and are not considering acquiring a stake or a carrier. We just spent $2 billion to modernize our planes. we definitely look at our own growth.
