RECAP: The United States-Azerbaijan Air Cargo Logistics: The Outlook For A Post-Pandemic Future

Last week, the United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) hosted a web discussion on the role of direct air cargo logistics between the United States and Azerbaijan. The conference featured the Vice President of SilkWay West Airlines, Vugar Mammadov and the Regional Director for Airline Market Analysis at Boeing Company, Thomas Crabtree.

“After the U.S. Department of Transportation granted permission to SilkWay to operate Boeing freighters within the U.S. in 2016, operations began with one flight per week to New York - 5.5 million kilograms were transported between the U.S. and Azerbaijan”, said Vugar Mammadov, while discussing the nature of air cargo trade between the U.S. and Azerbaijan. According to Mr.Mammadov, operations were successful and the demand for air cargo activity increased significantly within a short period of time. SilkWay West continues to add new operation locations to its network each year. Now, the company operates scheduled and chartered flights to New York, Chicago, Miami and Washington, D.C.

While speaking about SilkWay West’s operations during the global pandemic, Mr.Mammadov added that his company has operated one hundred flights that carried medical equipment and PPEs all over the world, including destinations in the United States.

Tom Crabtree commented on SilkWay’s remarkable achievements. After only 19 years of operations, the company has grown rapidly and is already in the top 30 of air cargo companies in the world.

Mr.Crabtree shared a presentation on what air cargo will look like in the post-pandemic future. He highlighted that the global pandemic has significantly affected air cargo globally. The decline was most severe in April, and air traffic was down by 18% in June. The industry, however, is expected to enter a period of recovery by next year.

Boeing's representative pointed out that the geographical location of Azerbaijan is ideal, as 70% of all economic and industrial activity, along with 86% of the world's population, are within the triangle of London, Tokyo and Johannesburg.

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The United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (USACC) is a Washington-based 501(c)6 trade association incorporated in 1995. USACC facilitates and encourages trade and investments between the United States and Azerbaijan. To learn more about the Chamber's activities please visit us at https://usacc.org/