Etihad Airways' new summer schedule almost 50 per cent larger than last year
11 Mar 2008
Etihad Airways' new summer schedule, set to launch on 30 March, will be 47 per cent larger than the same period last year. According to the Abu Dhabi-based carrier it will operate a total of 728 weekly flights this summer, as compared to 494 in the same period last year.
Etihad will launch new services to Beijing on 30 March and the southern Indian city of Calicut in June.
In addition to these two new routes, Etihad Airways will also increase the frequency of its flights to a number of key destinations within the GCC, the Middle East, Europe, the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive, said: "In addition to the new Beijing service, Etihad will offer air travellers from around the world significantly improved connection opportunities through our Abu Dhabi home base as we continue to add breadth, depth and additional frequency to the airline's expanding global route network.
"We're not just improving the quantity of flights but, importantly, also the quality of connections. The number of onward transfers which can now be made in less than two hours will increase by 21 per cent, while connections which can be made within two to three hours will increase by a further 13 per cent."
Etihad's strong network across the Middle East will be strengthened further this summer, with extra weekly services from Abu Dhabi to Amman (six flights at present to 10), Beirut (eight to 11) and Damascus (six to 10). Within Europe, flights to the Irish capital of Dublin will increase from six flights a week to a daily service from 30 March.
Etihad's flying programme to the North African destinations of Cairo and Khartoum will be boosted further this summer, with flights to the Egyptian capital increasing from 10 flights a week to 12 and to the Sudanese capital from four flights a week to five.
Within the Indian sub-continent, Etihad's summer schedule for 2008 will see the airline's existing 13 flights a week service to Karachi in Pakistan boosted to a twice-daily service.
