Etihad Airways introduces larger aircraft on three key Asian routes

July 01, 2019: Etihad Airways has introduced large aircraft on three key Asian routes this week, in order to accommodate growing demand.

The Abu-Dhabi based carrier has deployed its next-generation Boeing 787 Dreamliners on its services to two Chinese cities, Shanghai and Chengdu.

Etihad has upgraded its daily Abu Dhabi – Chengdu flights from 262-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft to 299-seat Boeing 787s, a 14 percent increase in seats.

Shanghai, China’s largest city, with a population of more than 24 million, has been upgraded from Boeing 787-9 aircraft to larger Boeing 787-10 jets, seating 336 passengers, up 12 percent.

While the South Korean city of Seoul has been boosted from a Dreamliner to an Airbus A380 ‘super jumbo’. The aircraft offers 494-seats, that is a massive 47 percent increase.

“Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing air transport region in the world, and China is the fastest-growing individual market,” said Robin Kamark, chief commercial officer of Etihad Airways.

“As we continue to modernise our aircraft fleet, and as we work with tourism partners to increase visitor numbers to Abu Dhabi, we are deploying newer, larger planes to key markets throughout our network.”

With the upgrades of the Shanghai and Chengdu routes, Etihad now operates Dreamliners to all four of its China gateways, having introduced these planes to Hong Kong and Beijing earlier this year.

Recently, Dreamliners have also been deployed to London and Rome, and still to come this year, Etihad will introduce these aircraft to markets including Frankfurt, Milan, Dublin, Johannesburg and Lagos.