MAXIMUS MAINTAINS HIGH-FLYING GROWTH TREND
Maximus Air Cargo, the Abu-Dhabi headquartered specialist ‘heavy-lifter’ of the airfreight world, has reported outstanding growth during the first nine months of 2008, with up to four-fold increases in key performance measures.
Freight-ton kilometres flown, the most important indicator of air cargo operations grew to 278 million - up from 69, million in the same period of 2007, an increase of 401 per cent.
Hours flown followed a similar pattern, up 365 per cent from 1,885 to 6,883 - producing a 227 per cent growth in sales revenue from $38 million to $86.4 million, 170 per cent ahead of target. Commercial contracts accounted for 75% of the hours flown, with the balance coming from UAE government entities.
"These outstanding results are a reflection of our aircraft dispatch reliability, driven by very intense and careful operations and maintenance management," says Maximus president and chief executive Fathi Hilal Buhazza.
"We are achieving excellent on-time performance, given that our demanding
customers include the Abu Dhabi and UAE Government, VVIP's, as well the highly varied nature of the cargo that we carry."
Maximus deliveries over the period included helicopters from Bucharest to Abu Dhabi, outsize electrical generators from Dubai to Ndjamena (Chad), boats from Abu Dhabi to the Seychelles, helicopters from Milan to Abu Dhabi, and general cargo from Cagliari to Abu Dhabi.
In the past three months alone, more than 100 highly-valuable thoroughbred racehorses have been carried between Abu Dhabi, Doha, Amsterdam, Liege, and Maastricht.
On behalf of the United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNIMID), Maximus made 43 flights from Brno in the Czech Republic to Sudan, carrying construction equipment, diggers, road rollers, dumper trucks, tents, and cement aggregate.
The programme - using 31 Ilyushin IL76 and 12 Airbus A300 flights began at the end of July and was completed by early September.
The 14 Hercules flights to to Ndjamena (Chad), on behalf of the EU-led peacekeeping operations in Chad, comprised two 20 ft containers. The Hercules also carried delicate scientific test equipment from the UK to Oman, returning the materials to the UK one month later.
Maximus Antonov 124 freighters made three flights to Central Asia from Oslo in Norway and Istres in France, all carrying outsize cargo.
The AN124 also operated a series of flights between Cameroon and Chad on behalf of the EU-led peacekeeping operations in Chad. A total of 10 rotations were completed between April 14-26 carrying military vehicles.
The remaining flights were made by the A300, Hercules, IL76, and AN124 - carrying cargo ranging from oil field and offshore equipment to medical and vaccine supplies, furniture, speed boats, power generation equipment, military supplies, and relief cargo.
Maximus is the largest freighter-only air operator in the Middle East and has a staff of more than 120, operating a fleet of eight all-cargo Antonov AN-124-100, Airbus A300-600RF, Ilyushin IL-76TD, and Lockheed Hercules L382G aircraft operating across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
It operates regular scheduled cargo services on behalf of airlines including Etihad, Iberia, Air France, and Sudan Airways, and is also the exclusive air relief support partner for the UAE Red Crescent.