Dubai:  Etihad Crystal Cargo, a division of Etihad Airways, has signed an interline agreement and a codeshare arrangement with Cargoitalia, the Italian private freighter airline operating from Milan's Malpensa airport.

The deal, which comes into effect from April 5, will provide customers with continued freighter capacity access between Abu Dhabi and Milan, where the service will link with Cargoitalia's network of destinations in the US and Central America, including New York, Chicago, Houston as well as Mexico City.

Etihad Crystal Cargo currently operates a twice weekly freighter service between Abu Dhabi and Milan, in addition to the airline's three-flights-a-week passenger service. The new agreement will see greater load capacities between these two destinations as a result of the deployment of Cargoitalia's 70 tonne capacity DC10F on the route.

Des Vertannes, Etihad Crystal Cargo's executive vice-president, said: "The new interline and codeshare agreement with Cargoitalia will greatly benefit Etihad Crystal Cargo and its customers not only in terms of the wider number of freighter destinations we can now access, but also the greater capacity volumes offered by the new aircraft deployed on this popular route."

Massimo Panagia, Cargoitalia's chief operating officer, said: "The agreement with Etihad Crystal Cargo allows Cargoitalia's customers in North America, Europe and Asia to benefit from a deep reinforcement of our Middle East and East Africa network. It is therefore another important step in the execution of our industrial strategy already focused on that region."