January 18 - Maximus Air Cargo, the UAE's largest dedicated cargo aircraft operator, enjoyed a bullish 2009 in the face of a turbulent business year.

Building on this, in 2010 the airline is planning to expand into the wet lease ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) sector as well as continuing its humanitarian work.

In 2009, the company took on a greater number of Airbus pilots to meet projected wet leasing requirements. In addition, the management of crew and operations were further improved by investment in an AIMS (Airline Information Management System).

Developments included the selection of several relief trips involving the transportation of the UAE Search and Rescue Team to earthquake-torn IMaximus by Etihad Airways to run scheduled cargo services, while ongoing humanitarian work included Indonesia.

This culminated in the launch of Care by Air initiative, in partnership with Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), to provide cargo services to relief and humanitarian organisations at cost across its network of partner organisations and businesses.

Fathi Buhazza CEO and president of Maximus Air Cargo summed up 2009: "Maximus has continued to retain momentum and our actions in 2009 indicate that not only are we the UAE's largest all-cargo operator, but also one of the strictest in terms of safety standards. Our plans for 2010 include further inroads into the ACMI sector and provision of scheduled services together with continuing support of worthy humanitarian missions and initiatives such as Care by Air."