Company Watch - Etihad Airways.

Aug 20, 2007

Etihad Airways said its first A320 will commence operations Sept. 1, with two more set to arrive in September and October. A further three of the dual-class, 140-seat aircraft are expected in the 2008 first quarter. First A320 route will be Abu Dhabi-Tehran. Future cities include Beirut, Dammam, Karachi, Muscat, Bahrain, Cairo, Doha, Kuwait, Amman and Damascus. CEO James Hogan said the A320s will allow Etihad "to redeploy widebodies, currently in use on these routes, to our long-haul destinations." Aug 17, 2007

Etihad Airways will increase its number of weekly flights to 716 from 564 at the end of October, when it will also "bid to attract more travelers with the introduction of new flight timings to improve connecting service." Key additions will be on flights from Abu Dhabi to Bahrain (to 28 weekly frequencies from 14), Muscat (to 21 from seven) and Doha (to 14 from seven). It also will increase flights to Frankfurt (to 10 from seven), Geneva (to four from three), Dublin (to six from four) and London Heathrow (to 19 from 14). Service to Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Dhaka will rise to daily. Aug 14, 2007

Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi said on Tuesday it had bought an Airbus A320 and leased two others, adding the first narrow-bodied aircraft to its fleet as it expands its regional flights. The three A320s will be added to its fleet in September and October, while three more of the aircraft would be added in the first quarter of 2008, Etihad said in a statement, without giving further details. Etihad bought one Airbus A320 aircraft from US-based KJ Aviation Services and leased two from Air Malta, a company spokesman said. The first narrow-bodied aircraft will fly from Abu Dhabi to Tehran beginning September 1, 2007, Etihad said. Etihad has a fleet of 27 wide-bodied aircraft. It ordered 12 Airbus wide-bodied aircraft in June in a deal worth USD$2.4 billion. Aug 14, 2007

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