Jeddah,  Saudi Airlines Cargo is to launch a weekly freighter flight to Accra, Ghana, as of 25 March 2012.The new service, will operate once a week using the airline’s B747 freighters, marks Saudi Airlines Cargo's further expansion into Africa.

“Ghana is an emerging market with enormous business potential for air cargo. The addition of this new destination will help us to increase our activities in Africa, where we already operate scheduled B747 freighters from Saudi Arabia to Nairobi, Lagos, Addis Ababa, N'djamena, Khartoum and Johannesburg," commented Peter Scholten, VP Commercial at Saudi Airlines Cargo. “The commencement of the new Saudi operation coincides with the opening of a new Perishable Cargo Centre, maintaining the high quality of the fruit and vegetable supply chain. Together with the forthcoming construction of a major new Cargo Terminal and Hub operation, opening up 11 West/Central African destinations with scheduled cargo feeder services, we see exciting new opportunities for this new service to Accra”.

Located in West Africa, Ghana's principal airport serves as the aviation hub of the sub-region. The country's export traffic consists mainly of perishables (fruit/vegetables), with bulk of over 2,000t per month destined for the European market, followed by the Middle Eastern market.

Saudi Airlines Cargo operates scheduled freighter services with 12 freighters and sells the belly-capacity on 140 passenger aircraft for Saudi Arabian Airlines spanning a rapidly expanding global network of 225 destinations.

Source: Saudi Airlines Cargo