Sunday, April 21, 2013

Etihad expands.....again.....


In a move that grows its ever-expanding route network, Etihad Airways has announced a further two destinations, totaling six for 2013.

The two new destinations announced within a day of each other are Serbia’s capital city Belgrade, due to start on 15th June and Sana’a in Yemen, due to start on 1st September 2013.

Announcement of Abu Dhabi - Belgrade route
Belgrade will be the middle eastern airlines’  17th European destination, flying daily to the capital. As part of the new route, a new codeshare agreement has also been signed with Serbia’s national carrier JatAirways who will place its JU flight code on 22 of Etihad’s destinations, whilst at the same time, Etihad will place its EY code on 23 European flights operated by JatAirways. EY flights 71 and 72 will be a daily service using one of the airlines’ Airbus A319 aircraft, configured in a 109 economy and 16 business class arrangement.

The codeshare with JatAirways is an expansion of the already successful model by Etihad Airways. Despite still being a relatively newcomer to the aviation industry, Etihad has grown from strength to strength by offering over 350 destinations to its customers via a network of partnerships and codeshares.

The second destination announced last week was Sana’a, and Etihad will offer four flights per week to the Yemeni capital. Using a similarly configured aircraft, Etihad will operate an Airbus A320 with 120 economy seats and 16 business class seats. The UAE is Yemen’s largest trading partner and there are over 90,000 Yemeni nationals living in the UAE so the new route makes sense.

Belgrade and Sana’a add to Etihad’s 2013 destinations of Washington, DC., Amsterdam, Sao Paulo and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. There were also indications in a recent announcement made by Etihad CEO James Hogan that a fourth and possible fifth US destination would also be announced in 2014, adding to Washington DC, Etihad’s third US destination.

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