Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has appointed Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), a member of the SATS Group, as its cargo handling partner in Copenhagen for the launch of its first-ever flights connecting Abu Dhabi and Denmark.

WFS handles up to 5,000 tonnes of cargo a year for the airline, which commenced four Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights a week to the Danish capital from October 1, expanding its global network to 66 cities.

“We are proud that Etihad Airways has chosen to partner with WFS for the launch of its new route to Copenhagen, and we look forward to expanding our relationship with the airline to include another station in the WFS network,” said Thomas Egeland, WFS’ Managing Director Scandinavia.

“Winning a major new customer contract like this validates our decision to invest in our cargo services in Copenhagen. Our team in Denmark welcomes the opportunity to support Etihad’s latest route expansion,” he added.

Thomas Schürmann, head of cargo operations & delivery at Etihad Cargo, said the addition of Copenhagen to Etihad Cargo’s existing partnership with WFS will benefit the carrier’s customers and partners and ensure Etihad Cargo can offer the same high standard of cargo handling they have become accustomed to across the airline’s global network.

At the end of 2022, WFS opened a third cargo handling facility at Copenhagen Airport, adding a further 3,700m² warehouse facility to its local handling infrastructure, which manages over 100,000 tonnes of cargo a year carried on board passenger and freighter services.

WFS opened its first Scandinavian handling operation in Copenhagen in 2006 and is now the largest cargo handler at the airport, serving over 50 airline clients. WFS has also invested in a 1500m2 GDP-certified Pharma facility at the airport to benefit airlines and forwarders serving the cluster of life sciences companies in the Greater Copenhagen area.

Copenhagen was also one of the first WFS stations to be powered by 100% renewable energy after entering a partnership with NRGreen in Denmark to locate over 3,500 high-efficiency solar panels across the roof area its cargo facilities at Copenhagen Airport.

This also generates surplus energy to return to Denmark’s national grid.