Etihad in expansion mode

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is pushing ahead with operation expansion worldwide with plans to fly to more cities after boosting its flights to 10 cities in India, according to the company’s president and CEO.

James Hogan said daily services to Jaipur in India have just started, adding that the new service is Etihad’s 10th destination in India, alongside Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, New Delhi and Trivandrum.

“Tourism is booming in Jaipur, the capital and largest city of the State of Rajasthan, with visitor numbers increasing 70 per cent during the past decade,” he said in the company’s monthly bulletin Etihadinflight.

“Next month, we are looking forward to launching flights to Los Angeles and Zurich and these vibrant cities will be followed by Yerevan, Rome, and Perth in July; Phuket in Thailand in October; and Dallas in December.”

He said that besides launching new destinations, Etihad continues to boost capacity and frequencies to key destinations worldwide.

He said flights to Athens would rise from seven to 10 per week in July and between the peak holiday period of June 1 and September 30, daily flights will operate with larger 254-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

He said company also plans to boost flights between Abu Dhabi and Larnaca in Cyprus from three to five per week in July, with daily flights operating from July 1 to September 30. In addition, the new carrier “Etihad Regional” continues to build its network and has now launched direct daily services between Zurich in Switzerland and Leipzig/Halle in Germany.

Hogan said the flights mark Etihad Regional’s second route launch to Germany from Switzerland, following the start of a Geneva-Stuttgart operation in February, adding that the airline already flies from Leipzig to Amsterdam and Paris.

Etihad Regional has also started a twice-weekly service linking Geneva in Switzerland with Toulouse in France, rising to three flights per week from June, he said.

“This is Etihad Regional’s first year-round route to France, supplementing summer season services to Biarritz and Calvi. Further year-round operations to Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille will start this month and next,” he said.

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