Etihad Cargo, the cargo division of  Etihad Airways, has added Washington D.C. to its global cargo network, in addition to increasing frequency to Hong Kong courtesy of strategic partner Air Seychelles.

The US capital is Etihad Cargo’s fifth destination in North America, while Hong Kong is already part of the carrier’s five-destination Greater China cargo network.

The news follows the launch of passenger services from Abu Dhabi to both cities in recent weeks.  Etihad Airways started direct services to Washington D.C. on March 31, and Air Seychelles, in which Etihad Airways owns a 40 per cent stake, initiated services to Hong Kong via Abu Dhabi on March 24.

Kevin Knight, chief strategy and planning officer at Etihad Airways, said: “Our cargo network continues to expand and with the addition of bellyhold capacity to Washington D.C. and an overall increase in cargo capacity to Hong Kong, we believe these new operations will strengthen cargo services both east and west for our customers.”

Etihad Airways has deployed an Airbus A340-500 aircraft to operate the daily Abu Dhabi-Washington D.C. route, while Air Seychelles has scheduled its Airbus A330-200 aircraft to fly the three times a week service between the Indian ocean archipelago and Hong Kong.

Etihad Cargo already offers daily bellyhold cargo capacity from Chicago and New York to Abu Dhabi, and three times a week from Toronto to Abu Dhabi.  In addition, Etihad Cargo offers a twice-weekly freighter service from Houston to the UAE capital.

The additional bellyhold capacity offered by Air Seychelles’ new service between Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong will strengthen the already established four-times-a-week Etihad Cargo freighter service between the two cities.

At present Etihad Cargo offers both bellyhold and full freighter capacity to Beijing and Shanghai, bellyhold capacity to Chengdu, and a freighter operation to Guangzhou.

Etihad Cargo serves 86 destinations internationally and operates a fleet of two Boeing B777F, one Boeing 747-400ERF, one Boeing 747-400F, two Airbus A330-200F and one Airbus A300-600F. To ensure capacity stays ahead of demand, Etihad Cargo will take delivery of three additional freighters in 2013 and 2014, comprising one Boeing B777F, and two Airbus A330-200F.