Etihad Cargo, the cargo division of UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways, has won the ‘Cargo Airline of the Year’ by leading industry magazine, Air Transport News (ATN), at a ceremony in Geneva recently.

The award, which is decided based on votes received from across the industry, combined with a verdict made by a jury of internationally renowned industry experts, is in recognition of the commitment made by Etihad Cargo to developing the global freight market through the opening of new routes, the introduction of innovative products, and its successful relationship with the international freight forwarding community.

Kevin Knight, chief strategy and planning officer, Etihad Airways, said: “We are honoured to receive this award in recognition of our commitment to working closely with our partners across the industry, ensuring our customers have greater access to new routes and services that enhance the two-way flow of trade and commerce between key and the emerging markets across our global network.”

Etihad Cargo extended its reach last year by providing customers with lowerdeck capacity on 10 new services that were launched during the year on its global passenger network.

This will be further extended with the launch of eight new passenger routes this year, bringing to 111 the total number of passenger and cargo destinations served directly from its hub in Abu Dhabi.

Additional lowerdeck cargo capacity was also provided on the passenger services of its partners as they expanded their networks from Europe. This included airberlin’s new services from Berlin and Stuttgart to Etihad Cargo’s hub in Abu Dhabi, and on NIKI’s new service from Vienna.

It also included the scheduled passenger services of its latest equity partner, Alitalia, from Milan and Venice to Abu Dhabi.

With a fleet of 10 dedicated cargo aircraft, Etihad Cargo also provided customers with maindeck capacity on its scheduled services to 13 freighter-only destinations that include: Bogotá, Chittagong, Djibouti, Dubai World Central, Eldoret, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Houston, Kabul, Miami, Quito, Sharjah and Viracopos.

It also operates a double-weekly service from Milan to Bogotá, Colombia, and from Bagotá to Amsterdam, following a partnership agreement signed with Avianca Cargo. - TradeArabia News Service