In the translation industry, English is frequently the pivot language. That is, it serves as the go-between when content has to be translated between two languages that are linguistically, culturally, and geographically quite far apart. The languages behave differently when it comes to the syntax, phonetics, and even how speakers of these languages phrase things.
The demand for direct translation between such pairs is also comparatively lesser, when compared to the demand for languages that may be more related.
As English is near-universal in its spread, it frequently becomes the common language between such a pair of languages. So, content is first translated from the source language into English and then from English into the target language. While this is a convenient option for translation, it entails more time and money. There can also be more scope for error, as two sets of translations are involved.