Etihad Airways plans to fly seven million passengers in 2009, an increase of 15% over the previous year, said Etihad Head of Corporate Communication Hareb Al-Muhairy on Monday. Addressing the media at a roundtable lunch, the official said the airline will introduce flights to Chicago, in addition to having already announcing new routes to Astana, Istanbul, Turkey, Greece and Larnaca in May. Al-Muhairy highlighted that the occupancy of the carrier is over 80%, reported Al Watan Daily.