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Emirates SkyCargo continues North America expansion with Milan-New York flight

Emirates SkyCargo is continuing to expand its presence in North America with a new freighter connection between Milan and New York. The new weekly service between Milan Malpensa and New York JFK will start on 5 December using one of the carrier's 100-tonne-capacity Boeing 777 freighter aircraft. The carrier said the service was being launched to serve growing demand for export capacity from Northern Italy and the Lombardy region. The carrier pointed out that exports from Milan carried by Emirates SkyCargo grew 13% in financial year 2025/26 compared to the previous year and added that New York is the largest air cargo export destination for Italian goods. Meanwhile, overall exports of Italian goods carried by Emirates were up 12% year on year for the 2025/26 financial year. Key export commodities that move by air from Milan include pharmaceuticals, vaccines and clinical trial medication, luxury goods and fashion items, industrial equipment and machine parts, high-end automotives, fresh produce and speciality food products. In the other direction, the carrier reported a 23% increase in the volume of exports it carried from JFK and Newark Liberty airports between financial year 2024/25 and FY 2025/ 26. Key export commodities moving from New York include pharmaceuticals and healthcare products, perishables, e-commerce shipments, machinery and industrial components. Badr Abbas, divisional senior vice president, Emirates SkyCargo, said the new service would also complement its existing passenger services. "Milan is a key air cargo gateway for Italy and Europe, where Emirates SkyCargo currently offers over 500 tonnes of weekly export capacity to global markets, including over 100 tonnes weekly bellyhold capacity on our passenger flights to New York. "The new freighter service adds important maindeck capacity on a vital trade corridor, offering exporters greater access, flexibility and reliability when serving customers in the US. "Exports from the Greater New York region have seen strong growth, reflecting robust demand for reliable access to international markets. "By combining enhanced freighter capacity with our extensive network of freighter and passenger services through Dubai, we are enhancing connectivity for pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, perishables and machinery from the US, while creating faster links to destinations across the Middle East, Asia and beyond." Emirates SkyCargo also operates a once-weekly freighter flight between Milan and Dubai (DWC) to allow connection to other destinations in the Emirates network. North America connections The new service comes as Emirates SkyCargo has been expanding its presence in North America in line with fleet expansion. Emirates SkyCargo has also launched freighter flights in 2026 to Los Angeles (LAX) and Dallas (DFW) while increasing frequencies to Miami (MIA). The expansion follows the delivery of eight new freighter aircraft this year, including seven Boeing 777-F production freighters and one Boeing 777-300ER converted freighter. "This expansion helped power the growth of Emirates SkyCargo's freighter network from over 40 destinations in March 2026 to over 60 destinations by July 2026," the carrier said. Last week, Emirates reported that its cargo volumes were down 1% in the first half of its 2026-2027 financial year, but cargo revenue increased by 50%. The airline said its gains occurred "as the regional conflict reduced available airfreight capacity while concurrently pushing shippers to seek airfreight options due to marine transport disruptions".

DHL Forwarding: Market wide growth hides air cargo pressure points

The overall growth in air cargo demand registered so far this year risks creating a misleading picture of performance on individual trade lanes, according to DHL Global Forwarding's head of airfreight. Writing in an online column, Henk Venema, executive vice president, global airfreight, DHL Global Forwarding, urged customers not to use the global air cargo growth average as a proxy for the corridor that matters most to their supply chain. "The pressure points sit on specific lanes, and those are likely to remain uneven into 2027," he said. Venema pointed out that overall global air cargo traffic grew by 5% year on year in the first eight months of the year, according to IATA. However, certain trade lanes had seen demand soar, putting pressure on capacity as the industry heads into the peak season. Others had seen demand tumble. Venema said that IATA stats show that in August, cargo volumes from Asia to North America were up 15% year on year and Asia to Latin America 23%. In contrast, Asia to Europe fell 8%. The growth on Asia-North America is driven by AI-related demand, while Asia-Europe volumes are suffering as a result of the European Union's e-commerce import charge. Asia to Latin American volumes, in contrast, are fuelled by e-commerce. In response, freighter operators have shifted Asia-Europe capacity to Asia-US and Asia-Latin America lanes. "Carriers choose where to deploy freighters, and the choice usually defaults to the Southeast Asia to US trade," he says. He adds: "The pressure is particularly concentrated on routes from Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan to the US. I expect that demand to continue into 2027, making these Asian export routes a key capacity issue for shippers." Venema points to statistics showing that approximately 17m metric tons have been moved by air year to date; high-tech cargo accounted for 3m metric tons and grew 22%. Chinese e-commerce represented 2.9m metric tons and remained flat, with other general cargo accounting for the remaining 11.2m metric tons. For shippers, resilience increasingly means understanding where pressure points are and having alternatives ready before disruption hits, says Venema. Capacity outlook Venema added that freighter capacity shortages on certain trade lanes were likely to continue in the future. "Around 20 freighters are expected for delivery on the world market in 2027, with most going to express delivery companies rather than traditional cargo airlines," he said. "Older aircraft will also continue to leave the fleet. Therefore, dedicated freighter capacity is likely to remain in high demand and limited supply for the next several years. "I also expect more partnerships between Middle Eastern and Asian airlines seeking ways to participate in the transpacific market within existing traffic-right constraints." Meanwhile, passenger aircraft additions do not necessarily help the cargo market, as they aren't always deployed on routes where demand is highest and can't carry certain types of cargo.

Profit bonanza: is it time to kill the shipping tonnage tax?

Container shipping lines have learned how to manage capacity, print billions, and pay single-digit tax rates -- all under a regime designed to protect a fragmented, loss-making industry that has changed profoundly. Maersk's Q3 interims released last week are the latest exhibit for the prosecution. Here is a number that deserves to be read twice. In the third quarter of 2026, AP Moller-Maersk booked profit before tax of about $3.2bn. Against that, it recorded income tax of just ...