Etihad Cargo has teamed up with Atlas Air Worldwide to launch its first "round-the-world freighter", which will be used to transport goods from the United Arab Emirates to destinations in Europe, the US, Asia and South America.

A Boeing 747-8 cargo plane will be used to make deliveries between Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Chicago, Miami, Viracopos, Quito and Amsterdam, AMEinfo reports.

Chief strategy and planning officer at Etihad Airways Kevin Knight thinks this new service underlines the carrier's growing presence in the global aviation industry.

"By linking the round-the-world capability with our existing Etihad Cargo services through our Abu Dhabi hub, we believe our offer is industry-leading," he was quoted as saying.

Recent studies have suggested the Middle East - where Etihad is based - has experienced an upturn in air freight activity, which is not the case in many other markets.

Earlier this month, Etihad Cargo announced details of a raft of new services being launched in June, including a weekly trip to Vienna and a twice-weekly journey to Singapore and Sydney.