King Shaka International Airport cleared its runways last Friday (June 1) for the arrival of Emirates’ inaugural Boeing 777- 300ER (extended range) aircraft in Durban. The new 354-seat aircraft boosted passenger capacity by close to 30% and upped the cargo capacity by 90% (to 23 000 kilograms) over the smaller capacity Airbus A330-200 previously used, according to Muhammad Cassim, cargo sales executive for SkyCargo – the freight arm of the airline. In 2011 Emirates SkyCargo carried over 5 240 tonnes of cargo on the route.
