Etihad Crystal Cargo, the cargo division of Etihad Airways, has signed an agreement to be the first cargo airline to act as a vendor within the network of WCA Family, the leading group of independent freight forwarders.

This agreement, announced today (September 27) at the eighth Sino-International Freight Forwarders Conference in Shanghai, will allow WCA Family members to access Etihad Crystal Cargo’s global network of 84 destinations.

“At a time when we are enhancing service from Asia to the Indian Subcontinent and into Africa, we are very excited about this MoU with WCA Family and expect to be able to deliver exceptional value and routings to their members,” said Roy Kinnear, senior vice president Cargo at Etihad.

“In our industry the issue of credit can be an administrative and financial burden especially for the smaller independent forwarder.”

“This agreement allows WCA Family members to leverage the strength of the Etihad relationship with WCA Family to provide an airway bill facility on behalf of its members.  This means all WCA Family agents will now have access to Etihad Crystal Cargo’s full booking facility,” Kinnear noted.

“In simple terms, if you are already trading with Etihad, it’s business as usual. However if you need access to more choice for your airfreight, this unique initiative allows you to begin transactions with Etihad quickly, founded on the strength of the Etihad relationship with WCA Family. Etihad’s worldwide sales network stands ready to support WCA Family’s needs with creative airfreight solutions,” he added.

WCA Family president, David Yokeum, said: “Etihad, as a company, has shown great vision by thinking outside the box and forging this partnership with a private organisation. I would like to commend Etihad Crystal Cargo for having the foresight and drive to engage so productively with the independent forwarding community.”

This is the first such MoU between a forwarding network and an airline, a statement said.

WCA Family is the largest grouping of in the world, with close to 4,000 member offices in more than 640 cities and ports worldwide, it added. – TradeArabia News Service