Dubai-based airline, flydubai, and Mercator have announced the signing of a seven-year extension to their air cargo management contract.

They say the renewal reaffirms the continuation of the strategic partnership initiated in 2012, designed to provide flydubai with a next-generation technology platform that enables the end-to-end management of air cargo operations and revenue accounting, while providing the airline with innovative and intelligent cargo management.

flydubai has worked closely with Mercator since cargo operations were launched. The airline provides cargo services to 94 destinations across its flight network, in the GCC, Middle East, Europe, Africa, Russia, CIS, Central Asia and The Americas.

The renewal of the contract expands on the existing SkyChain and RAPID Cargo platform as flydubai collaborates with Mercator to upgrade to and leverage the transformational offerings of the Intelligent Cargo Ecosystem.

This is an open API portfolio of air cargo and ground handling applications that provide an end-to-end view of cargo movements across the supply chain and identify the most efficient ways of delivering goods to their destination.

Flydubai Cargo vice president, Mohamed Hassan says: “Cargo is an integral element of our operations and our continued partnership with Mercator has been a key component in enabling us to achieve consistent growth by delivering the capabilities we need to provide innovative and digital cargo products and services.

“With the extension of our contract, we look forward to working closely with Mercator to further enhance the value we deliver to our customers.”

Mercator chief technology officer, Brendan McKittrick says: “We’ve had the pleasure of working with flydubai to support the cargo growth they enjoy today and we’re delighted to continue advancing their ambitions and meet the expanding expectations of air cargo with the technologies that provide greater transparency, predictability, and above all, the ability to simplify complex processes.”