Dubai: Mangoes, strawberries, tomatoes most popular perishable goods handled at airports

Local UAE perishable goods such as fish, bread, yoghurt, and milk are exported to other countries as well

Waheed Abbas

Published: Fri 16 Jun 2023, 7:28 AM

Dnata, a global air and travel services provider, handled 135,000 tonnes of perishable goods through its cool chain facilities in Dubai in the 12 months up to March 31, 2023.

The most popular imported products handled into Dubai included fruit and vegetables such as mangoes, strawberries, tomatoes, avocados and cherries, primarily from locations in Europe, the Far East, South Asia and Africa.

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Dnata, which also provides services at Dubai International Airport, also managed the export of a significant quantity of local UAE perishable goods, including large shipments of frozen fish to Ethiopia, bread and yoghurt to Djibouti, and fresh milk to Somalia.

With ambient temperatures rising to over 40°C during the summer in Dubai, dnata’s facilities are equipped to maintain all International Air Transport Association (Iata) standards for temperature control ranges at all stages of the cargo handling process. This includes transportation to and from the aircraft in high-tech ‘cool dollies’, specially designed to serve perishable and pharmaceutical industries with a closed temperature-controlled system.

Dnata’s cool chain facilities at its Dubai World Central (DWC) hub provide a total of 22 separate storage areas, offering a range of temperatures from -20°C Deep Freeze through to Refrigeration and 25°C Controlled Room Temperature.

“Despite extreme weather conditions in the summer, our world-class facilities, advanced equipment and close cooperation with our partners and authorities ensure that each piece of perishable cargo remains at its optimum storage temperature throughout the transportation process,” said Guillaume Crozier, senior vice president for UAE cargo and global cargo strategy, dnata.

Air and travel services provider’s cool chain facilities were integral in the safe handling of global Covid-19 vaccines transportation, and in the 12 months up to March 31, 2023, it handled close to 8,000 tonnes of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals.

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