Emirates SkyCargo Adds Weekly Milan-New York Freighter From December 5

The route will be flown by a Boeing 777F, which carries up to about 100 tonnes a flight, the airline's cargo division said. It is aimed at exporters in northern Italy, particularly Lombardy, shipping to the United States, which the carrier said is the largest destination for Italian goods sent by air. On the return, the service will give companies in the New York area extra capacity for exports to the Middle East and Asia through Dubai.

For Emirates, the route is another case of a Gulf carrier earning money on flights between two foreign markets, a so-called fifth-freedom service. It follows a year in which the cargo arm has expanded its freighter fleet and network quickly, while the Gulf conflict has disrupted shipping lanes and pushed more time-sensitive goods into the air.

Badr Abbas, divisional senior vice president for cargo at Emirates, said SkyCargo already offers more than 500 tonnes of weekly capacity between Milan and the rest of the world, including more than 100 tonnes a week in the bellies of its passenger flights from Milan to New York. "The new freighter service will provide significant capacity on dedicated cargo aircraft, strengthening this vital trade lane," he said, according to the company's announcement.

Abbas said exports from the New York area had also grown strongly, and that the extra freighter capacity combined with the Dubai network would give US shippers faster links for pharmaceuticals, e-commerce goods, perishables and machinery.

Italian Volumes

Exports carried by Emirates SkyCargo out of Milan rose 13% in the 2025-26 financial year compared with the previous year, the carrier said, and its exports from Italy as a whole grew by more than 12% between 2024-25 and 2025-26. It now offers more than 1,000 tonnes of weekly capacity across four Italian gateways: Bologna, Milan, Rome and Venice, supported by trucking services for businesses outside those cities. It also runs a weekly freighter between Milan and Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport.

The main goods flown out of Milan include pharmaceuticals and vaccines, clinical trial drugs, luxury goods, fashion, industrial equipment, machine parts, luxury cars, fresh produce and speciality foods. Their main markets are the Middle East, the US, Australia and South Africa.

On the US side, volumes Emirates SkyCargo carried out of JFK and Newark rose 23% across the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years, the airline said.

A Bigger Freighter Fleet

The Milan route adds to a North American expansion that has already brought new freighter services to Los Angeles and Dallas this year, along with more frequent flights to Miami.

Emirates SkyCargo has taken delivery of eight freighters in 2026, seven new Boeing 777Fs and one passenger 777 converted to carry cargo. The additions took its freighter network from more than 40 destinations in March to more than 60 by July, the carrier said. It also sells belly space on Emirates passenger flights across six continents.

The first Milan-New York freighter is scheduled to depart on December 5, ahead of the year-end peak for pharmaceutical and e-commerce shipments.