China is fi rmly on the road map for Etihad Airways in 2008, according to the carrier’s new head of cargo, Des Vertannes, who was in the PRC in early September exploring links with Shenzhen Airlines, China Southern andShanghai Airlines.
The carrier has been fl ying twice weekly to Shenzhen with its A300-600 freighter for the past 18 months, but Vertannes says that before expanding its freighter services to other Chinese destinations it would like to get thesupport of local carriers.
“We would like to use their networks beyond the stations that we fl y to,” he says. “To fi ll capacity on a freighter year round is always diffi cult, so if we can broaden the help we get from other sources, that is an obvious help.” He also does not rule out joint freighter routes with Chinese carriers, if any of the potential partners are interested.
Etihad is also expecting to launch a passenger route to Shanghai and possibly also Beijing in 2008, but a freighter route to Shanghai is more problematic. Vertannes says the business case is still being evaluated, but admits: “You can’t operate an A300 to Shanghai, you would need a bigger beast, something thatdoesn’t have to hop, skip and jump.”
The A330F, for which Etihad is one of the launch customers, could be a suitable aircraft, but this is not arriving in the fl eet till 2011. Etihad ordered three of the freighters in June, as part of a package including fi ve passengerA330s and four A340-600s.
Vertannes says he is looking at ways of getting the freighters earlier perhaps by dry leasing from one of the carrierswho will be taking delivery in 2010.
Possible candidates could include Flyington Freighters of India, which was the very fi rst A330F customer and now has 12 on order, or Aircastle, which placed an order for 15 in June. If Etihad was able to get earlier delivery in this way, Vertannes says its three freighter orders might be converted to passenger types.
Earlier delivery of the A330Fs would be useful, as it would help to bridge the gap with the expiry of the wetlease on Etihad’s A300-600Fs, which falls in 2009. The clear implication is that the A330Fs would be used to replace theA300Fs.
Since taking over as head of cargo, Vertannes has also been busy revamping Etihad’s international cargo sales network, replacing its general sales agents in the US and Canada, and in allEuropean countries except France.
He stresses that the change is no refl ection on the former GSAs, but says that now the carrier is getting bigger, it needs a different sales approach from the one it had in its start-up phase.“We wanted GSAs who could raisethe bar in terms of space utilisationand pricing,” he says. “We are a qualitycarrier, with a very capable hub operation,and we want to position ourselvesin such a way that our yields are not atthe lower end of the market.”
Among the criteria for the new GSAs was that their bosses should still be actively involved in sales. “If you run a GSA and are still knocking on doors, that tells me you are hungry,” Vertannes says.
The re-organisation has gone hand in hand with the appointment of regional sales managers in Europe, the US and the Indian Subcontinent in August. An Asian appointment is due to follow shortly.
– Peter Conway