Air, Feature, Freight News


Air One poised to start freight flights from East Midlands to Dubai and Hong Kong

[ August 18, 2025   //   ]

All-cargo airline Air One will offer four scheduled flights a week from East Midlands Airport and Liege, Belgium, to Dubai World Central and Hong Kong, with return services from Hong Kong from 2 September.
They will be operated by Air One’s affiliated British cargo airline, One Air, using its Boeing 747-400 fleet.
Air One has signed a general sales and service agency agreement with ATC Aviation Services to market its outbound scheduled cargo services from 22 countries in mainland Europe and the UK and Ireland, initially to Dubai and Hong Kong.
Air One’s own sales team in Hong Kong will be responsible for selling cargo capacity from Hong Kong to Belgium and the UK.
A road feeder transport network covers key airports across the UK and Europe.
Air One’s chief commercial officer, Peter Scholten said: “Launching scheduled cargo services is a new strategic step for Air One and a natural extension and progression of our successful charter and wet lease operations. Having completed over 3,750 full charters carrying more than 345,000 tonnes of cargo to over 100 destinations globally over the past five years, Air One has proven its all-cargo credentials. The introduction of scheduled services will now strengthen our market position and is in response to the customer demand we see in these key markets in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.”
Air One markets a fleet of 11 Boeing 747-400Fs for three airline partners, including two nose-loading versions. Further fleet expansion is planned in 2025/26.
Meanwhile, East Midlands Airport said it handled more than 103,000 tonnes of cargo between May-July, up 17.4% on the same period in 2024. Volumes were up 19% year-on-year last month, 24% in June and 9.7% in May.
It attributed the increase in part by the arrival of four new operators running routes between China and the UK. Central Airlines began operating a twice-weekly service in May on behalf of Chinese logistics firm YunExpress ans is set to increase this to five times a week in the coming months. It was closely followed by US-based Atlas Air, Ethiopian Cargo and Saudia Cargo, as well as One Air’s decision to switch its UK base for China-UK flights from Heathrow to East Midlands a year ago.
(Main picture: Guneet Mirchandani, executive chairman of AIR ONE, and Ingo Zimmer, chief executive of ATC Aviation Services celebrate the new GSSA agreement.)

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