Etihad Cargo on track for best-ever performance

Etihad Cargo has significantly enhanced its global reach by offering bellyhold capacity on 10 new passenger destinations launched across Etihad Airways’ fast-growing network during the year.

Abu Dhabi: Etihad Cargo, the freight division of UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways, achieved an all-time record in November when it carried 53,292 tonnes across its global network in one month.

This is an increase on its previous monthly record of 51,688 tonnes carried in October, up seven per cent on the same month last year. Etihad Cargo’s total uplift for 2014 is forecast to top 570,000 tonnes, a 17 per cent increase on 2013.

This performance, based on strong market demand, the expansion of its global reach, and the smooth handling operations at its hub in Abu Dhabi, has already enabled Etihad Cargo to secure over $ I billion in revenue to date.

Etihad Cargo has significantly enhanced its global reach by offering bellyhold capacity on 10 new passenger destinations launched across Etihad Airways’ fast-growing network during the year. These include the holy city of Madinah, Jaipur, Los Angeles, Zurich, Yerevan, Rome, Perth, Phuket, Dallas and San Francisco, bringing to 90 the total number of passenger destinations on which cargo services are currently provided.

During the year, Etihad Cargo also expanded its freighter services to several new markets to capitalise on the strong import and export demands between global financial centres and the emerging markets. This included the introduction of new weekly services to Dar es Salaam and Entebbe in East Africa, a three-times-a-week service to Hanoi in Vietnam, and a twice-weekly service to Moscow in Russia.

This brings the number of freighter-only destinations currently operated by Etihad Cargo to 15.

A key success factor has been Etihad Cargo’s ability to further extend its global reach through the network expansion of its codeshare partners, which enables it to provide additional bellyhold space on airberlin’s new passenger services from Berlin and Stuttgart to its hub in Abu Dhabi, and on Niki’s new service from Vienna.

Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways’ chief strategy and planning officer, said: “Our business continues to grow as we work with our global partners to provide customers with a fully integrated global cargo solution. By working together, we are able to achieve greater capacity utilisation on our growing fleet of freighter aircraft, provide more bellyhold capacity across an extended passenger network, and, importantly, further develop our well-performing charter business.”

Knight added: “We have seen strong growth in cargo volumes over the last year, and particularly to and from Asia and Africa as we continue to leverage the strategic location of our hub in Abu Dhabi to provide a link between the mature markets and emerging economies around the world... Our endeavours are paying off and we are continuing to outperform the industry; 2014 promises to be a record year for Etihad Cargo.”