Sharjah Airport Freight Center witnessing increased cargo movement

Benefiting from a continued growth in traffic, there have been new additions in the Freight Center. One of the key new expansions in the freight center is the construction of two new aircraft parking bays and the addition of two new 4 pallet-trucks to the trucking fleet. The volume of cargo and shipping handling during the first nine months of the current year reached 411,697 tons, compared with 349,259 tons handled during the same period of 2005.

With the continued increase in movements of charter operators and cargo flights, traffic has been heightened and hence there was a need for the addition of two new parking bays. Known as one of the best Freight Cargo Centers in the region, the Sharjah Freight Center sees to a large variety of cargo requirements, one of them is the regular import of meat for local consumption. Four weekly flights arrive in Sharjah at midnight and the meat is immediately distributed by refrigerated trucks. In lieu of this traffic, Sharjah Municipality has drawn plans to construct in two months a hall with built in chillers and modern equipment to inspect the imported foodstuff and ensure the highest degree of hygiene, standards and express clearance.

Seeing the non-stop climb of traffic in multiple departments of the Sharjah Airport Freight Center, the Freight Department continuously upgrades its facilities. For instance, our Marketing Team has been successful in promoting the use of our 10 chillers and freezers for the export of perishable goods to the region. The outcome was two daily flights to Baghdad and Kabul.

Mr. Ali H. Kombargi, Director of the Sharjah International Airport Freight Center, said "The Sharjah Airport Freight Center always aims to service its valued clients in the most efficient manner with standards that match international levels of service and excellence. All procedures and facilities at the Freight Center have been approved by the ISO Quality certifications to match the best standards in the industry".

In 2006, the Freight Center at the Sharjah International Airport has seen growth in the recruit of UAE nationals by welcoming seven well qualified Emiratis to various positions in the different departments.

A unique feature of services provided by Sharjah International Airport is mentioned by Mr. Kombargi who said, "Sharjah International Airport has constructed a shed for the storage and checking of live bees. During a period of five month in a year we have two weekly flights from Egypt to Sharjah. Each carries 20 tons of bees that are further transported by road to Al Ain where honey is prepared at the bee farms.

Customs regulations at Sharjah International Airport Freight Center are known to be friendly clear and efficient. When imported cargo arrives consignees are messaged on their mobiles to notify them that their shipment has arrived. Exports at the Sharjah International Airport Freight Center are double the quantity to imports and Air traffic constitutes a substantial part of the freight operations at the Freight Center.

Security systems are constantly upgraded with the latest in technology as the Sharjah International Airport Freight Center views safety amongst its foremost concerns. CCTVs; Camera Controlled TVS, are placed to continuously monitors cargo and container movement and to date there have been no security glitches or thefts.

Recently they have upgraded the CCTVs to digital mode from analog as a part of their constant efforts to maintain a high level of security. Over recent years extra measures have been in place in all of the five cargo terminals to ensure safe transportation of all cargo that moves through the Sharjah International Airport Freight Center.