Etihad Cargo, a division of Etihad Airways, has concluded plans to re-introduce a weekly freighter service from Abu Dhabi to Lagos, Nigeria from November 15th, a statement from the airline said on Monday.According to the statement, the service will be complemented by the addition of 16 new interline destinations across West Africa.
These additional interline connections will link Lagos with the cities of Libreville (Gabon), Pointe-Noire (Congo-Brazzaville), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Douala (Cameroon), Accra (Ghana), Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Conakry (Guinea), Bamako (Mali), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Cotonou (Benin), Monrovia (Liberia), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Port Harcourt (Nigeria) and Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo).
The Abu Dhabi-Lagos freighter service will operate every Thursday using a Boeing 747-400F freighter, with a capacity of 124 tonnes, the statement added.
Etihad Airways already operates six weekly Airbus A330 passenger services between the two cities.
"West Africa is a hugely important market for us, and we are delighted to offer freighter services to and beyond one of its gateway cities – Lagos,” Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways' chief strategy and planning officer, said. "The 16 new interline destinations, with connections over Lagos, will ensure Etihad Cargo has leading logistics solutions for cargo customers into and out of the region.
"Via Lagos, these new destinations will also help cement the ever expanding trade ties between West Africa and the UAE.”
Last week, Etihad Cargo said it carried a record 32,500 tonnes of freight in October, a 15 percent increase on the same month last year.
The figure is 2.2 percent higher than September when the airline carried 31,800 tonnes.
Etihad Cargo's existing African freighter destinations include Johannesburg, Nairobi, Khartoum, Benghazi, Tripoli, Cairo, Casablanca, Addis Ababa and Eldoret.
Etihad Cargo flies to a total of 86 destinations internationally, operating a fleet of six freighters.
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