Etihad to launch Almaty and Moscow services

Etihad Airways will launch flights to the Russian capital Moscow from its Abu Dhabi home base on December 1, and with flights to the Kazakhstan capital, Almaty, commencing the following day.

The weekly five flights to Moscow and four flights a week to Almaty follows the successful launch of Etihad Airways flights to the Belarus capital Minsk, which started on August 5.

"Russia represents a key emerging market for Etihad. The country's recent economic development is creating an increasingly affluent population with a huge appetite to access Abu Dhabi's property market and growing leisure attractions," Etihad Airways Chief Executive James Hogan said in a statement.

To mark the start of the flights, Etihad has unveiled introductory fares, which are now on sale. The return economy flights to Moscow starting from Dh690 and return business class flights starting from Dh6,900, the statement said.

Spanning no less than 10 time zones, Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of surface area.

Russia's economic power lies in its huge natural resources, particularly oil and gas, which has brought in rapid economic growth to the country.

The Russian capital will be Etihad's 11th destination in its flight network in the Europe region, which already includes services to cities such as Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Manchester, Milan, Minsk, Munich and Paris.