Etihad plans flights to 12 more destinations
By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
Published: May 08, 2008, 00:09
Dubai: Etihad Airways will add 12 destinations to its network in the coming months as the Abu Dhabi-based carrier continues its rapid expansion in line with Abu Dhabi's plans to attract more foreign travellers, officials said.
These include major cities in China, India and former Soviet Union states as the airline is keen to connect Abu Dhabi with some of the world's fast growing economies.
"Etihad is the main player in promoting tourism in Abu Dhabi," Dr Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saif Al Nahyan, Etihad chairman, said.
He added the four-year-old airline will break-even by 2010.
The airline last year flew 4.6 million passengers and aims to fly 6.3 million this year, said Geert Boven, Etihad's executive vice-president for sales and services.
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Boven said flights to Kozhikode and Chennai in India will begin in July, while Almaty and Moscow services will start in December.
Other destinations being considered include Minsk, Beijing, Shanghai, Guang-zhou, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lagos and Melbourne.
Etihad is also looking to secure traffic rights to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore and Hyderabad. There is strong traffic between these Indian cities and the UAE.
Boven said the airline, which flies to 45 destinations at present, will also increase frequencies to Sydney, where it began flying last year.
Etihad plans to order between 50 and 100 new aircraft to serve its widening network.
It now has 37 aircraft, including three freighters, and expects to get seven more planes this year. Etihad will double its fleet of single-aisle aircraft to eight this year to serve high-frequency routes within the region.
The existing orders for planes include four A380 superjumbos, but the airline is not scheduled to receive them until 2013.
Boven said Etihad will hire more than 100 pilots and 600 cabin crew this year, taking the total number of employees to more than 6,000.
The airline's new headquarters building will be ready in the third quarter of this year.
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