Etihad Crystal Cargo says it will launch a freight service to Hong Kong on 13 October.

Etihad Crystal Cargo is a division of Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways and will fly twice a week to Hong Kong using its first Airbus A330 freighter plane.

“Hong Kong is the world’s second busiest cargo hub giving us huge growth potential and  a strengthened product to offer our global key accounts,” says Roy Kinnear, senior vice-president of Etihad Crystal Cargo.

The division already offers services to Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing, which launched on 11 August (MEED 4:9:10). Etihad received its first Airbus A330 during the UK’s Farnborough Airshow in July.

Etihad Airways already operates a passenger service to Beijing five times each week and is scheduled to begin flights to Seoul in South Korea in December.