On Behalf of

Business & Finance Club - Transportation - Dubai: Leather, silk, garments, tools, flowers, fruit, fish, plants and telecoms equipment to be loaded aboard Emirates' first passenger flight to Amsterdam on Saturday are a sure sign that a new trading channel has been born, Emirates said in a statement.

As well as the usual United Nations mix of passengers on flights out of the airline's international hub in Dubai, there is similar international representation in the cargo hold with commodities from around the Indian sub-continent, Africa, the Far East and Australasia.

Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice-President, Europe and Russian Federation, said: "When we talk about our new routes lubricating trade, this is exactly what we mean. Each time we start a new service, new avenues of trade are created and in this case that can only help the economies of the UAE and the Netherlands. Emirates will provide a significant boost to commercial and tourism activity."

Wealth of commodities

Ram Menen, Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo, said: "This flight's cargo manifest is from all over the place: Lahore, Kolkata, Colombo, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Dubai, Bengaluru, Hong Kong, Melbourne. While we're used to seeing such a wealth of commodities on our flights, it's great to see such variety in the belly hold of an inaugural. This daily passenger service will also provide an extra outlet for goods being moved from our particularly busy African markets of Kenya and Ethiopia."

Emirates SkyCargo has been serving Amsterdam with freighters for more than 15 years and flowers from Africa, bound for the Netherlands, are among the key commodities.