Nearly a year after forming a cooperation agreement to launch freighter service between Luxembourg and Chennai, India, Oman Air and all-cargo carrier Cargolux are expanding their partnership with twice-weekly service to Mumbai, beginning March 8.
Under the new agreement, the first weekly 747 service, operated by Cargolux, will use a Luxembourg-Bahrain-Mumbai-Muscat-Luxembourg route, leaving on Tuesdays. For the second weekly service, beginning on Fridays, the route will be Luxembourg-Kuwait-Mumbai-Muscat-Luxembourg.
While Oman Air will be able to receive a consolidated cargo feed from Cargolux’s extensive long-haul network, Cargolux will be able to use Oman’s well-positioned hub in the Middle East and have greater access to the belly capacity of Oman Air’s passenger fleet (pictured), which currently serves 11 destinations in India and more in East Africa.
Abdulrahman Al Busaidy, COO of Oman Air, said some of the airfreight carried by the airline will include project cargo, livestock, aircraft-only freight, odd-sized cargo, vehicles and aircraft engines.
“With India’s growing importance as a manufacturing nation, we see a lot of future potential and possibilities for both our companies,” added Niek van der Weide, Cargolux’s executive vice president, sales and marketing.