Etihad airways the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates will add more seats on its route between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne by introducing a Boeing 777-300ER. The larger aircraft will start functioning from 1st December and will offer 328 seats in a three-class configuration which is 36 more than the Airbus A340-600 which is currently flying between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne. The three-class Boeing 777-300ER has eight seats in Diamond First Class, 40 in Pearl Business Class, and 280 in Coral Economy Class.
According to Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan, the introduction of larger aircraft reflected the importance of Australian market especially the Melbourne. Etihad Airways’ Melbourne –Abu Dhabi flights are some of the strongest performers in the network and this year the load factors between the two cities have averaged more than 80 percent.
Etihad Airways commenced flights to Melbourne in 2009.Switching to Boeing 777 gives 12 percent more seats overall and 25 percent more in business class which enables to increase leisure travel market between Australia and Abu Dhabi and worldwide network. He further said that the introduction of a larger aircraft also presented a growth opportunity for the airline’s highly successful cargo division, Etihad Cargo as well.
According to Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan, the introduction of larger aircraft reflected the importance of Australian market especially the Melbourne. Etihad Airways’ Melbourne –Abu Dhabi flights are some of the strongest performers in the network and this year the load factors between the two cities have averaged more than 80 percent.
Etihad Airways commenced flights to Melbourne in 2009.Switching to Boeing 777 gives 12 percent more seats overall and 25 percent more in business class which enables to increase leisure travel market between Australia and Abu Dhabi and worldwide network. He further said that the introduction of a larger aircraft also presented a growth opportunity for the airline’s highly successful cargo division, Etihad Cargo as well.
