Etihad Cargo posts best ever November, on track for best ever year in 2014
Etihad Cargo, the freight division of Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways, achieved an all-time record in November when it carried 53,292 tonnes across its global network in one month, reports Arbian Supply Chain.
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. Total uplift for 2014 is forecast to top 570,000 tonnes, a 17 per cent year-on-year increase.
Etihad Cargo, which has secured over $1 billion in revenue to-date, significantly enhanced its global reach in 2014 by offering bellyhold capacity to 10 new destinations namely Medina, Jaipur, Los Angeles, Zurich, Yerevan, Rome, Perth, Phuket, Dallas and San Francisco.
Freighter services were also extended to several new markets with weekly flights to Dar es Salaam and Entebbe, a thrice weekly service to Hanoi and a twice weekly service to Moscow.
This brings the number of freighter-only destinations currently operated by Etihad Cargo to 15, with other routes to Chittagong, Djibouti, Dubai World Central, Eldoret, Guangzhou, Houston, Kabul, Miami, Quito, Sharjah and Viracopos.
Etihad Cargo also launched a new twice weekly freighter service from Milan to Bogota, and from Bogota to Amsterdam, following a partnership agreement signed with Avianca Cargo.
Etihad Cargo further extended its global reach through the network expansion of its codeshare partners, enabling 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.
It also includes Air Seychelles' new services from Mah to Mumbai, Antananarivo and Dar es Salaam, in addition to existing services from Seychelles to Johannesburg, Mauritius and via Abu Dhabi to Paris and Hong Kong.
Said Etihad planning chief Kevin Knight: "We have strong growth in Asia and Africa as we continue to leverage our location in Abu Dhabi to link mature markets and emerging economies. Our endeavors are paying off and we continue to outperform the industry."