Etihad may acquire freighter version of Boeing's Worldliner

Etihad Airways plans to order the Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner freighter version and is weighing options for the passenger version, a senior airline official said yesterday.

The Worldliner, the world's longest range commercial aircraft, landed in Abu Dhabi yesterday as part of a flight testing tour to 24 cities in 50 days.

"We are definitely interested in the cargo version of the Boeing 777-200LR. We have initiated talks and right now we are looking at the numbers," said Captain Werner Borchert, Etihad Vice-President of Operations.

"Etihad is interested in the 777-200LR passenger version also because we have plans to launch non-stop routes and we are looking into it but it is too early to say anything more," he told Gulf News.

He said Etihad's cargo business is growing and there is a clear need for additional freighters.

"We have two freighters now but more will be added to our fleet before this year end."

Etihad will also take delivery of five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft between October and December this year.

"After the five Boeing 777s join our fleet, Etihad will have 14 aircraft. The new aircraft will fly to existing and new routes."

Borchert said new routes include Brussels, Toronto, Johannesburg and some destinations in south Asia and China.

"The air services agreements are in place with Belgium, Canada and South Africa. We will begin flights to Brussels and Toronto in early October and Johannesburg in December. We plan to launch flights to South Asian cities Jakarta and Manila and Shanghai in China."

Etihad is also pushing to increase frequencies to the two Indian cities as well as fly to new destinations in south India, he said. "We want more flights to Delhi and Mumbai as well as new destinations like Trivandrum and Bangalore but bilateral rights issues have to be settled."

Etihad Airways currently flies to 16 destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Asia and has an ambitious strategy to increase this number to 70 destinations by 2010.