Business & Finance Club - Dubai : Danzas AEI Emirates, a joint venture between DHL and Al Tayer Group, has launched operations at Dubai World Central with its first cargo charter flight taking off from the newly-opened Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali.

This is part of Danzas’ commitment to the multi-billion DWC infrastructure development where the company has reserved three plots of land - 155,000 sq m plus 75,000 sq m option for a new logistics centre, and another of 45,000 sq metres for air freight operations, said a statement from DHL.

“We were one of the first companies to express our commitment to the DWC project and the commencement of Danzas operations from Al Maktoum International Airport is a significant milestone in its overall strategy of establishing a complete footprint at DWC by 2011,” noted Enver Moretti, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Mena and Turkey.

'Dubai is poised to cement a position as a vital access point and multi-modal logistics hub for goods from Asia, Europe and Africa and we are reinforcing our market leadership here,' he noted.

Set to be the world’s largest airport upon completion in terms of volume and size, the Al Maktoum International Airport sits at the core of DWC’s goal of supporting Dubai's aviation, tourism, commercial and logistics requirements through 2050 and beyond.

'When fully established, our operations at the DWC combined with our Jebel Ali Free Zone facilities will allow us to maximize logistics synergies to strengthen our air, sea, road and contract logistics capabilities,' he added.

The recent World Bank’s logistics performance index ranks the UAE as the best performing trade logistics service-provider in the Gulf region.

Danzas sees such ranking even further strengthened by DWC’s link to Jebel Ali Port and the Jebel Ali Free Zone, said Moretti.

Stefan Fallet, country manager of Danzas AEI Emirates, said, 'As one of the most ambitious projects of its kind in the world, Dubai World Central’s connectivity to the Jebel Ali Free Zone and Port creates a Logistics Corridor that has facilitated a seamless logistics process for Danzas.'

“Our customers will stand to benefit even further from Danzas operations at DWC. The logistics infrastructure and proximity of the free zone to air and sea connection points increase the operational efficiency of cargo movement from Jafza South - our single-largest logistics facility in the Middle East - to airfreight operations at DWC,” Fallet added.

Through StarBroker AG, DHL’s in-house carrier, the first chartered flight from DWC bound for Massawa International Airport of the east-African state of Eritrea was successfully given the necessary landing rights to complete a seamless and on-time delivery of cargo.