Etihad increases frequency of winter regional flights
Etihad is to expand its network by more than 20 per cent during the winter, bringing in new aircraft for regional flights and raising the frequency on long-haul routes.
The Abu Dhabi-based carrier acquired five new take-off and landing slots at London's Heathrow airport in July, and is looking to maximise yields on winter flights to and from Europe.
To achieve that, it is adding six narrow-bodied Airbus A320s to its fleet in the coming weeks. These will be used on regional routes, freeing up wide-bodied aircraft for the European network.
The airline has bought one A320 from the US-based KJ Aviation, with a further two on short-term lease from Air Malta.
'We are in the market for another three and hope to put deals in place for them during September,' says a company spokesman. 'We will use them to increase frequencies to Muscat, Bahrain and Doha. This frees up wide-bodies, which we will use in Europe.
'We are increasing flights to London, Geneva and Frankfurt over winter and will reassess the network in summer 2008.'
Etihad's current seat load factor is 65 per cent. With a more efficient redeployment of its fleet, the airline hopes to raise that to between 70 per cent and 75 per cent during the winter.
Etihad is to expand its network by more than 20 per cent during the winter, bringing in new aircraft for regional flights and raising the frequency on long-haul routes.
The Abu Dhabi-based carrier acquired five new take-off and landing slots at London's Heathrow airport in July, and is looking to maximise yields on winter flights to and from Europe. To achieve that, it is adding six narrow-bodied Airbus A320s to its fleet in the coming weeks. These will be used on regional routes, freeing up wide-bodied aircraft for the European network. The airline has bought one A320 from the US-based KJ Aviation, with a further two on short-term lease from Air Malta. 'We are in the market for another three and hope to put deals in place for them during September,' says a company spokesman. 'We will use them to increase frequencies to Muscat, Bahrain and Doha. This frees up wide-bodies, which we will use in Europe. 'We are increasing flights to London, Geneva and Frankfurt over winter and will reassess the network in summer 2008.' Etihad's current seat load factor is 65 per cent. With a more efficient redeployment of its fleet, the airline hopes to raise that to between 70 per cent and 75 per cent during the winter.This content is only available to full MEED package subscribers (MEED magazine and MEED.com).
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