Air Cargo service to Afghanistan?
February 3, 2008 5:43 AM
Regularly scheduled air cargo service from the USA/Europe to Afghanistan?
Hello Metafilter,
This will be my first AskMeFi post, so please be kind if I'm doing this wrong. I am looking for air cargo operators which run regular flights between the USA / Western Europe and the following locations in Afghanistan:
Kabul Airport
Bagram Air Base (2-hour drive north of Kabul)
Kandahar Air Base
I am already familiar with Silk Way Airlines, an Azerbaijani company which flies Il-76s on routes between Baku and the three airports listed above. Their planes can be seen on the ramp at these places all the time, sometimes it seems like Kandahar gets a Silk Way plane full of cargo every day. What I'm looking for is alternates to Silk Way, or a freight forwarder based on the US east coast who can offer time-definite shipment of pallets to Afghanistan.
DHL has daily flights to Bagram Air Base but the pricing is extremely high, a shoebox sized package weighing 10 pounds is about $300. Multiply that by the size of a 800 pound pallet of stuff...
ISAF uses Volga-Dnepr for resupply flights from Europe to Kabul with the monstrous Antonov-124 planes, but they only offer charter services based on a whole planeload of cargo (hundreds of thousands of dollars), not individual pallets of fractional cargo.
Bit of background: I work for a defense contractor which is currently performing a reconstruction contract. Whether you agree with the "war on terror" or not, there's nothing evil about my job in Afghanistan... It's related to improving the country's electrical supply (hydroelectric dams), digging water wells, improving Internet access / wireless telecommunications etc. The same sort of thing that USAID funds all over Africa and around the world.
Hello Metafilter,
This will be my first AskMeFi post, so please be kind if I'm doing this wrong. I am looking for air cargo operators which run regular flights between the USA / Western Europe and the following locations in Afghanistan:
Kabul Airport
Bagram Air Base (2-hour drive north of Kabul)
Kandahar Air Base
I am already familiar with Silk Way Airlines, an Azerbaijani company which flies Il-76s on routes between Baku and the three airports listed above. Their planes can be seen on the ramp at these places all the time, sometimes it seems like Kandahar gets a Silk Way plane full of cargo every day. What I'm looking for is alternates to Silk Way, or a freight forwarder based on the US east coast who can offer time-definite shipment of pallets to Afghanistan.
DHL has daily flights to Bagram Air Base but the pricing is extremely high, a shoebox sized package weighing 10 pounds is about $300. Multiply that by the size of a 800 pound pallet of stuff...
ISAF uses Volga-Dnepr for resupply flights from Europe to Kabul with the monstrous Antonov-124 planes, but they only offer charter services based on a whole planeload of cargo (hundreds of thousands of dollars), not individual pallets of fractional cargo.
Bit of background: I work for a defense contractor which is currently performing a reconstruction contract. Whether you agree with the "war on terror" or not, there's nothing evil about my job in Afghanistan... It's related to improving the country's electrical supply (hydroelectric dams), digging water wells, improving Internet access / wireless telecommunications etc. The same sort of thing that USAID funds all over Africa and around the world.
I used to schedule logistics for cargo transport from Canada to Afghanistan in 2001/2002. I ended up using Volga-Dnepr. While a lot has changed since then, here is some information that I do know. However, I can't vouch for the airlines effectiveness or reliability in services:
Ariana Air recently expanded from being solely passenger based to cargo capacity. However, it's not IATA certified I think.
Azerbaijan Air is a commercial airline that is IATA certified that routinely flies into Kabul
Evergreen International Air doesn't have regularly scheduled cargo flights to Kabul (only to HK, Nagoya, Shanghai, and Prestwick), but they do have permission from the Afghanistan government to fly cargo in (and I see them advertise job openings for pilots to fly from Anchorage to Afghanistan all the time) so that might work if you investigate further.
Eastern Air Cargo operates from Germany by selling cargo space on certain airlines, like Silk Airways.
Lufthana Cargo Last I recall, they route everything through Dubai before switching to third party carriers on the way to Afghanistan.
MNG Airlines operates cargo flights out of Turkey and has partnerships with reputable cargo carriers.
Maximus AirCargo this might be a total crapshoot, but I know they are the largest cargo operator in the Middle East, with offices in London and Abu Dhabi.
That's just off the top of my head, so you should have some luck with those, but feel free to contact me if you need further suggestions.
posted by carabiner at 8:08 AM on February 3, 2008
Ariana Air recently expanded from being solely passenger based to cargo capacity. However, it's not IATA certified I think.
Azerbaijan Air is a commercial airline that is IATA certified that routinely flies into Kabul
Evergreen International Air doesn't have regularly scheduled cargo flights to Kabul (only to HK, Nagoya, Shanghai, and Prestwick), but they do have permission from the Afghanistan government to fly cargo in (and I see them advertise job openings for pilots to fly from Anchorage to Afghanistan all the time) so that might work if you investigate further.
Eastern Air Cargo operates from Germany by selling cargo space on certain airlines, like Silk Airways.
Lufthana Cargo Last I recall, they route everything through Dubai before switching to third party carriers on the way to Afghanistan.
MNG Airlines operates cargo flights out of Turkey and has partnerships with reputable cargo carriers.
Maximus AirCargo this might be a total crapshoot, but I know they are the largest cargo operator in the Middle East, with offices in London and Abu Dhabi.
That's just off the top of my head, so you should have some luck with those, but feel free to contact me if you need further suggestions.
posted by carabiner at 8:08 AM on February 3, 2008
I think Coyne Air might be a possibility. They appear to have regularly scheduled flights out of DXB. But this is a friend-of-a-friend kind of recommendation, I have no experience in this kind of service, and no idea of the price.
posted by blue mustard at 8:25 AM on February 3, 2008
posted by blue mustard at 8:25 AM on February 3, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by spec80 at 6:33 AM on February 3, 2008