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29 March 2024

Etihad orders $418m two A330s

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By Staff

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, on Tuesday announced it had purchased two more Airbus A330-200 passenger aircraft in a deal worth $418 million (Dh1.53 billion) at current list prices.

The UAE carrier has also converted seven of its previously ordered Airbus A320s to the larger Airbus A321 model, said a press statement.

The new Airbus A330 aircraft are scheduled for delivery in January and March 2014 respectively.

Etihad Airways commenced operations with its first Airbus A330-200 in November 2003. The airline currently has 16 Airbus A330-200, 6 Airbus A330-300 passenger types and two A330-200 freighters in its fleet of 67 aircraft.

Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said:  “The reliable and highly versatile Airbus A330-200 has been an integral part of our global passenger and cargo success.  As our operations and network continue to grow in scale, we feel the A330-200 is the right fleet type to expand with.”

The new Etihad Airways’ Airbus A330-200s will be configured with 22 Pearl Business Class lie-flat beds and 240 Coral Economy seats.  The aircraft will be powered by Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines, enough to generate more than 70,000 pounds of thrust and give the aircraft a range of 14,000 kilometres.

Etihad Airways operates its existing A330-200s on routes to:  Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Manchester, Munich, Milan, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Lagos, Tripoli, Brisbane, Singapore, Chengdu, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Beijing.

Hogan added:  “Our decision to convert seven of our A320s on order into A321s reflects the increasingly strong demand we are seeing across our different routes and we look forward to taking delivery of our first in November 2013.”

John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, said:  “Winning a fifth repeat order from Etihad Airways for A330s is without a doubt a strong endorsement for the aircraft’s unique combination of unbeatable economics, versatility and fuel efficiency. In response to the continuing strong demand, we’re making the A330 better and better, with for example new higher weight variants which offer our customers more payload-range capability with the same high operational reliability.”

Ethiopia rejects Etihad flight request

Etihad Airways on Tuesday said the airline had been forced to postpone the launch of its flights to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority rejected the airline’s application for the required operating permit. This is despite the existence of a Memorandum of Understanding concluded by the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of Abu Dhabi in June 2007.

Based on this agreement, Ethiopian Airlines commenced scheduled passenger flights to Abu Dhabi in July 2008, suspending the service 12 months later.

The national airline of the UAE was scheduled to commence flights on November 2, 2012.

Over a period of six months, the UAE Government has held several meetings to resolve this situation, with the final meeting in Addis Ababa ending in failure last week.

Unfortunately, due to lack of any positive outcome Etihad Airways has had no alternative but to postpone the launch of flights between Addis Ababa and Abu Dhabi until further notice.

The airline said: “The actions of the Ethiopian CAA ignore the Memorandum of Understanding between Abu Dhabi and Ethiopia. They are also very much against the best interests of consumers, who are being denied the opportunity to experience Etihad Airways’ award-winning service. We will continue to push for terms of the MoU to be honoured. In the meantime, we deeply regret any inconvenience caused to our customers and business partners by this delay.”

Etihad Airways is contacting all passengers who have booked to fly on the planned service and will offer a full refund, or will assist passengers to make flight arrangements with another carrier.