Etihad Cargo is increasing belly-hold capacity between Abu Dhabi and Chengdu, China, by 40 percent.
Beginning March 30, cargo capacity to and from Chengdu will grow to 930 tonnes per month – a result of the Airbus A330 passenger service between Abu Dhabi and Chengdu moving from five times a week to daily.
Chengdu is an economic, transportation and communications center in China, where nearly half of the world’s Fortune 500 companies have operations. Chengdu is also one of China’s biggest markets for foreign direct investment.
The increase in cargo capacity between Abu Dhabi and Chengdu comes against a background of increasing trade flows to and from China. In 2013, Etihad Cargo carried more than 73,000 tonnes of goods to and from China, up 33 percent compared to 2012.
“Our additional services to Chengdu provide shippers with convenient, daily access to points all across our global network,” Kevin Knight, chief strategy and planning officer at Etihad Airways, said. “As a direct result of increased demand for our cargo services, tonnage carried between our Chinese destinations and the rest of our global network has grown significantly over the past 12 months, and our forward projections for 2014 are looking positive.”