Etihad Crystal Cargo starts freighter service to Khartoum

Etihad Crystal Cargo, the cargo division of Etihad Airways, has launched a twice-a-week freighter service to Khartoum. The Sudanese capital, the airline's sixth all-cargo-destination, will initially be served on Mondays and Wednesdays with an Airbus A310-300 regional freighter.

"We have been looking at Africa as an interesting option for freighter services ever since we launched our all-cargo services in February. Now the right time has come to step into this buoyant market. Etihad Crystal Cargo's home base Abu Dhabi certainly has a very good strategic location to operate to and from Africa," said Ingo Roessler, the acting Head of Cargo & Mail.

In 2004, the first full year of operation, Etihad Crystal Cargo moved 20,000 tons of cargo. The cargo production target for 2005 is in excess of 100,000 tons. From the beginning of 2005 the cargo services have been dramatically upgraded by the introduction of two regional freighter aircraft: an A300-600F with a payload of up to 44,000kg and an A310-300F with a payload of up to 39,000kg.

Another Airbus A300-600F will join Etihad Crystal Cargo's fleet in August. Four more regional freighter aircraft are expected to join Etihad Crystal Cargo's fleet by the end of 2006.

In addition to Khartoum, Etihad Crystal Cargo's regional freighters serve Frankfurt thrice a week; Amman, Milan and Chennai twice a week; and Mumbai once a week.

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