Middle Eastern carriers expand in the Americas

Thời sự - Logistics - Ngày đăng : 08:00, 01/01/1970

(VLR) Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan revealed that the United Arab Emirates-based carrier is eying South America for growth and will launch its first route to the region — to Brazil — on June 1, 2013.

Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan revealed that the United Arab Emirates-based carrier is eying South America for growth and will launch its first route to the region — to Brazil — on June 1, 2013.

This announcement comes on the heels of rival carrier Emirates SkyCargo’s September 12 commencement of Boeing 777-300 ER service to Washington Dulles International Airport.

Hogan said strong trade volumes between Brazil and the UAE will propel Etihad’s upcoming route to Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport from its Abu Dhabi hub. The daily route will also provide Brazil with connectivity to the GCC states, the Indian subcontinent and key Asian markets, he explained.

Surging trade volumes between the UAE and the Americas also drove Emirates’ decision to launch service to Washington, D.C. In a press release, the carrier said that the new route will address the 113 percent, year-over-year, increase in UAE exports to the U.S. witnessed in 2011.

Orhan Abbas, Emirates Airline’s senior vice president of commercial operations for the Americas, called the U.S. a “strategically important market” for the carrier. February and March saw the launch of daily Emirates service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, respectively.

Like Etihad, South America is also on the Emirates’ radar. Emirates SkyCargo launched daily, linked service to Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in January, a route that complements the carrier’s thrice-weekly freight service to Sao Paulo