Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has extended its wet lease contracts for two A300-600RF aircraft with Maximus Air Cargo until August 2012.

Etihad has wet leased two regional freighters from Maximus since June 2009, operating both scheduled and charter services between the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, East Africa, and China.

Roy Kinnear, Etihad Airways’ Senior Vice President of Crystal Cargo, said: “The relationship with Maximus Air Cargo is an important one for Etihad. The company continues to prove its outstanding reliability in high utilisation aircraft lease operations, and we are pleased to extend our partnership.

“Etihad’s cargo operation is an increasingly important segment of the airline’s business. Our growing passenger fleet offers enormous potential to carry increasing quantities of cargo between Abu Dhabi and the rest of the world. Our arrangement with Maximus provides an extra opportunity, supplementing the capacity available in the belly space of the Etihad fleet and on our own dedicated freighters.”

Source: Etihad Airway