Etihad to help take your supercar on holiday

The downside of going on holiday for an extended period of time is missing those life essentials back home.

That could be sleeping in the comfort of your own bed, or the love and affection of the family pet. For some, however, it is the feeling of being behind the wheel of your own car.

And that is understandable when your "pet" happens to be a luxury supercar by the likes of Ferrari and Porsche.

In recent years, European cities such as London have been invaded by Arabian Gulf visitors escaping the heat and enjoying the shopping and culture, but refusing to leave their expensive motors at home.

Supercar fans, known as the "carparazzi", have followed to take pictures of their dream motors, some of which are worth up to Dh5.7 million, lining the streets of swanky London areas such as Kensington and Knightsbridge.

With that in mind, Etihad Cargo has launched a special service this summer, offering first and business class passengers 20 per cent off air cargo rates and their seat, with the car delivered straight to the driver’s doorstep.

"We have several years of experience in transporting vehicles for manufacturers to luxury car markets around the world and will aim to provide a first class service for those clients who are looking to take their vehicles with them to Europe during the summer," said David Kerr, senior vice president of Etihad Cargo.

The Abu Dhabi airline is now able to move vehicles in the bellyhold of aircraft such as the Airbus A380, and has made the service available to European destinations such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris and Zurich.

It said the number of cars transported has been rising over the past few years, with "hundreds" carried in 2015. These have included F1 cars, with Etihad sponsoring the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.