Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, is set to increase its cargo capacity to Iran, when Emirates begins its five daily nonstop flights to Mashhad from Sept. 1.

Mashhad will become Emirates’ second Iranian destination after the capital city Tehran, which Emirates has been serving since March 1990. Last year, Emirates carried more than half a million passengers and transported over 17,500 tons of cargo to and from Iran.

“Iran is an important market for Emirates SkyCargo, and with our Dubai hub strategically located between East and West, we are able to offer Iranian manufacturers access to our global network coupled with a range of innovative products and services, such as our cool chain offering for time and temperature sensitive commodities,” said Khalid Mohamed Al-Hinai, VP cargo commercial for the Middle East, GCC and Iran.

With the new service to Mashhad, Emirates SkyCargo will provide more than 150 tons of belly-hold capacity between Iran and the UAE each week; further supporting Iran exports of fruits, vegetables, carpets, saffron, nuts, and personal effects, and its imports of meat, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, machinery and automobiles parts.

The top markets to which Emirates SkyCargo carries Iranian’s exports include Dubai, Kuwait, Riyadh, Bahrain, Osaka, Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles, while main import markets include the UAE, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Mumbai, Frankfurt and Basel.

In addition to belly-hold capacity in its all wide-body fleet of 221 passenger aircraft, Emirates SkyCargo has a fleet of 14 freighters, 12 Boeing 777Fs and two Boeing 747-400ERFs. Its dedicated freighter fleet serves more than 50 destinations around the world from its freighter hub at Dubai World Central’s Al-Maktoum International Airport.

Due to the end of daylight savings time in Iran, the arrival and departure times in Mashhad will be one hour earlier from Sept. 22.