Etihad Airways takes delivery of first A330-200F

Etihad Airways has taken delivery of the first of two USD195 million A330-200F aircraft at Abu Dhabi International Airport on 08-Aug-2010 (The National, 09-Aug-2010). Senior VP of Etihad Crystal Cargo, Roy Kinnear, stated "cargo has grown from 12% of Etihad's overall business to more than 15% in the past year". The freighter will commence service on 01-Sep-2010 to Abu Dhabi from Beijing, Hong Kong, Tripoli, N'djamena, Nairobi, Milan and Frankfurt. A second A330-200F, to be delivered in Sep-2010, will join the aircraft on the routes from 01-Oct-2010 and in Jun-2011, Etihad will take delivery of a B777 freighter, bringing its fleet of freighters to six aircraft at least. With the two A330-200Fs, Etihad's cargo capacity will grow by 16%. Airbus has 64 A330-200F on order from 10 different customers. Etihad is the launch customer for the aircraft.