Etihad Crystal Cargo acquires Third Freighter

Etihad Crystal Cargo has taken delivery of its third regional freighter aircraft, an Airbus A300-600RF. This latest addition to its fleet will enable the cargo division of Etihad Airways to link its Abu Dhabi cargo hub to more freighter destinations on the Indian Subcontinent, Europe, Africa and Asia.

"The Middle East has become the crossroads for much of the world's cargo shipment and distribution, and Abu Dhabi enjoys a strategically advantageous position on the world map, connecting continents, East to West, North and South," said Ingo Roessler, Vice-President, Etihad Crystal Cargo.

"With the third regional freighter we will further upgrade our existing Indian operations. All our existing routes to India show very high payloads, and the Indian Subcontinent has turned out to be a very dynamic market for cargo services. The additional freighter capacity will also allow us to enhance our worldwide charter services," Roessler added.

Etihad Crystal Cargo will use the Airbus A300-600F to increase the freighter frequency to New Delhi to twice a week (Wednesday, Saturday) and upgrade services from Chennai to three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday). It will also start weekly services to Calcutta (Sunday), Dhaka (Friday) and Almaty (Tuesday).

Etihad Crystal Cargo has also witnessed significant growth in its charter business, having operated more than 65 charters since March 2005. With the additional 44-ton capacity of the second Airbus A300-600 regional freighter, it plans to establish several new charter chains.

In addition to all this, Etihad Crystal Cargo is upgrading its services with its first two regional freighters, increasing the frequency to Frankfurt (from three times a week to five) and Khartoum (from twice a week to three times).

In February 2005, Etihad Crystal Cargo took delivery of its first regional freighter aircraft, an Airbus A300-600F with a payload capacity of 44 tons. In May 2005 an Airbus A310-300F was added to the fleet, upgrading services with a 39-ton payload capacity.

With its three regional freighter aircraft Etihad Crystal Cargo now serves 10 destinations - Frankfurt five times a week; Khartoum and Chennai three times a week; Amman, New Delhi and Milan twice a week; and Mumbai, Calcutta, Almaty and Dhaka once each week.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Airbus, Etihad, Cargo