The airline's cargo business achieved a 38% growth in 2007 across its network of 50 destinations. It has also expanded its cargo terminal in Abu Dhabi to handle more than 270,000 tons of freight per annum and boosted the capacity of its freighter fleet in 2007 by 30% with the arrival of an MD-11F to join its existing Airbus A300-600RF aircraft.
Des Vertannes, Etihad Crystal Cargo's executive vice president, who signed the agreement with OAG at the IATA World Cargo Symposium in Rome, said: 'OAG Cargo Solutions is one of the industry's premier vehicles for getting information to the worldwide freight forwarding market in a fast, reliable and cost effective manner.'
Etihad has committed to OAG Cargo's Air Freight Rates (AFRA) application and its Inforwarding Announcements service. There are now more than four million individual airfreight rates published on AFRA. In total, 505 airlines have published tariffs on the site (HYPERLINK "http://www.oagcargo.com/"www.oagcargo.com) and this information is accessed regularly by over 9,700 freight forwarder users from 1,175 offices worldwide. AFRA enables freight forwarders to make informed decisions about their cargo shipments. Rates previously distributed by airlines in a wide variety of formats including mail, email with attachments and fax can now be accessed using a single web-based application.
OAG Cargo's Inforwarding Announcements service enables airlines to publish time sensitive operational announcements to over 25,000 registered freight forwarders and is now live in 24 countries and states in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia with further countries due to be added. The portal also provides route building, schedules, truck service points and rates and analysis tools as well as regulations governing the carriage by air of dangerous goods shipments.
Sam Okpro, Etihad Crystal Cargo's head of cargo planning & development, added: 'OAG's Air Freight Rates Application - AFRA - is an effective tool that allows our customers and employees alike spread out in the four corners of the globe to have quick and easy access to Etihad's contract and selling rates.'
OAG Cargo's Global Key Account Manager, Bart Jan Haasbeek, said: 'Etihad is growing rapidly and we are delighted that the airline recognizes OAG as a fast and reliable way to communicate information and rates to the freight forwarding industry in the markets it serves. We know that cargo agents are actively encouraging airlines to use AFRA and Inforwarding and Etihad is a strong example of a carrier that's listening and responding to the needs of its customers.'
