Etihad Airways Increases Flights to Key Mediterranean Destinations

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, today announced it will boost frequency and capacity to Athens and Larnaca, adding depth to its expanding network, while enhancing connectivity over its Abu Dhabi hub.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said: “These increases in frequency and capacity demonstrate our commitment to build a global, connected network.

“In the case of Athens, our new flights will offer guests the choice of two different departure times to and from Abu Dhabi, and in the case of Larnaca, the additional flights will provide more choice and flexibility, as well as better connectivity over Abu Dhabi.

“The additional services will also support the growth of business and leisure traffic over Abu Dhabi, and offer travellers greater choice of destinations across the Gulf region, Indian Sub-continent, Asia and Australia.

“It also means that by July 2014, nearly 90 per cent of Etihad Airways’ global passenger network will be served by a daily flight.”

Athens - From 2 July 2014, Etihad Airways will increase frequency on the Abu Dhabi-Athens route from seven to 10 flights per week with the introduction of three new flights, which will provide passengers travelling to and from Athens with more choice and greater flexibility.

The new flights will also provide additional connecting opportunities with codeshare partner Aegean Airlines, which has separately announced that it will be commencing a direct service between Athens and Abu Dhabi from 28 May 2014.

Beyond Athens, Etihad Airways places its EY flight code on Aegean-operated flights to 16 destinations in Greece including popular islands such as Crete, Rhodes and Santorini, and to Larnaca, Madrid and Sofia in Europe.  Aegean Airlines places its A3 flight code on Etihad Airways beyond Abu Dhabi to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Bahrain, Kuwait and Johannesburg.  The new flights will enable Etihad Airways to place its flight code on Aegean-operated flights beyond Athens to Barcelona, subject to regulatory approval. 

In addition, between 1 June and 30 September, Etihad Airways’ daily EY090/EY091 flights will be upgraded from the current 174-seat Airbus A321 operation to a 254-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Flying 18 guests in the award-winning Pearl Business Class and 236 guests in Coral Economy Class, the larger aircraft is being deployed on the route to meet the expected increase in summer traffic.

Larnaca - Etihad Airways will increase its base frequency on the Abu Dhabi-Larnaca route from three to five flights per week. Etihad Airways will also operate Larnaca as a daily service during the peak summer period from 1 July to 30 September 2014.

All services to and from Larnaca will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft configured to carry 16 guests in Pearl Business Class and 120 in Coral Economy Class.