Etihad Cargo, the cargo division of UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways, has added Washington DC to its global cargo network, in addition to boosting frequency to Hong Kong with strategic partner Air Seychelles.

The US capital is Etihad Cargo’s fifth destination in North America, while Hong Kong is already part of the carrier’s five-destination Greater China cargo network.

The news follows the launch of passenger services from Abu Dhabi to both cities in recent weeks.  Etihad Airways started direct services to Washington D.C. on March 31, and Air Seychelles, in which Etihad Airways owns a 40 per cent stake, initiated services to Hong Kong via Abu Dhabi on March 24.

Kevin Knight, chief strategy and planning officer at Etihad Airways, said: “Our cargo network continues to expand and with the addition of bellyhold capacity to Washington DC and an overall increase in cargo capacity to Hong Kong, we believe these new operations will strengthen cargo services both east and west for our customers.”

Etihad Airways has deployed an Airbus A340-500 aircraft to operate the daily Abu Dhabi-Washington DC route, while Air Seychelles has scheduled its Airbus A330-200 aircraft to fly the three times a week service between the Indian ocean archipelago and Hong Kong.

Etihad Cargo already offers daily bellyhold cargo capacity from Chicago and New York to Abu Dhabi, and three times a week from Toronto to Abu Dhabi.  In addition, Etihad Cargo offers a twice-weekly freighter service from Houston to the UAE capital.

The additional bellyhold capacity offered by Air Seychelles’ new service between Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong will strengthen the already established four-times-a-week Etihad Cargo freighter service between the two cities.

At present Etihad Cargo offers both bellyhold and full freighter capacity to Beijing and Shanghai, bellyhold capacity to Chengdu, and a freighter operation to Guangzhou. – TradeArabia News Service