Etihad Airways has been awarded the prestigious title of “cargo airline of the year” at the Air Cargo News awards in London.
Building on its success at the 2006 awards, where it won the “best airline to the Indian Sub-Continent”, the carrier was voted “cargo airline of the year” by members of the cargo industry from more than 100 countries.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “The award is a tremendous accolade for the airline because it is so highly regarded by the world’s cargo industry. Etihad Airways continues to expand at a phenomenal rate and to be awarded the title of “cargo airline of the year” is a true recognition of our success and progress.”
Etihad’s executive vice president cargo, Des Vertannes, attended the event at London’s Lancaster Hotel, receiving the award from BBC TV news anchor Natasha Kaplinsky in front of 600 industry guests.
In addition to winning the coveted lead award for “cargo airline of the year”, Etihad also won the title of “best airline to the Indian Subcontinent” for the second successive year.
Etihad Airways’ vice president cargo, Des Vertannes, was accompanied at the awards by Rupert Batstone, Etihad’s manager for cargo handling and Vipul Bhalla, manager for cargo sales worldwide.
Etihad Crystal Cargo was officially launched in September 2004 and provides freight services on all of Etihad Airways’ fleet of passenger aircraft to 42 world-wide destinations.
Crystal Cargo also operates its own fleet of three Airbus A300-600RF freighter aircraft, each with a 44 tonne cargo capacity, to Addis Ababa, Bangalore, Chennai, Frankfurt, Khartoum, Kolkata, Milan, Mumbai, New Delhi and Zheng Zhou.
About Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates based in the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi.
Currently Etihad offers flights to 42 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.
