Al Rais Cargo yesterday became the first local company to launch a cargo airline with an investment of $9 million (Dh33 million).

It has bought two Boeing 727-200s, each of them having 12 pallete position and a 22-tonne payload, said its top official.

Its first flight took off yesterday with a 20-tonne cargo to Tehran. The airline will base its operations at Dubai International Airport.

Earlier, Al Rais Cargo also became the first UAE-based private company to receive an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), with registration No. A-6, when the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) awarded it the certificate, or licence to run the airline.

Mohammad Ghanim Al Ghaith, GCAA director-general and Hossain Tehrani, general manager of Al Rais Cargo, signed the AOC documents to make the launch official in the presence of Abdul Rahman Taher, managing director and Jassim Al Rais, director of Al Rais Cargo.

A GCAA communique said: "An AOC handing over ceremony was held at the GCAA regional office in Dubai between the GCAA and Al Rais Cargo Agencies LLC, which authorises the operator to conduct commercial transportation of cargo or mail."

Tehrani said, the second aircraft will join the fleet in less than two months once its conversion is completed.

"We have purchased two Boeing 727-200s and carried out conversion as well as fresh C-checks in the US. Each aircraft, built in the 1980s, cost us Dh12.86 million ($3.5 million)," he said.

"We will initially operate as a feeder service for larger cargo airlines to short-haul distances, ranging around 3.5 hours, mostly in the Middle East.

"We will initially operate to Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Mumbai in India. Later, when the fleet expands and we acquire wide-bodied aircraft, we will launch services to Africa, Europe and South Asia."

He said demand for freighter services is growing. "In a few years time, we should be having a fleet of five 727s, a few wide-bodied aircraft, including Airbus A310s and Boeing 767s," Tehrani said.

The company has hired three sets of crew for each aircraft. It has 110 people looking after the cargo business, while 25 for the aircraft.

Al Rais Cargo has a logistics centre at Jebel Ali Free Zone. It will also create a logistics centre at Dubai International Airport. It is currently in talks with large airlines to sign interline agreement on cargo shipment, Tehrani said.