Etihad's daily Vietnam flights take off

Etihad Airlines has launched daily non-stop flights to Ho Chi Minh City.

Yesterday's inaugural flight was the first-ever commercial passenger service between Abu Dhabi and the Vietnamese city.

The daily services will inject approximately 3,700 seats per week to the route. Etihad hopes this will allow it to tap into the market of business, leisure and visiting friends and relatives travel from Vietnam to Europe, as well as help boost visitor traffic to the UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council.

"From an inbound perspective, we are now well-positioned to offer travellers from Middle East and Europe the convenience of non-stop or one-stop flights to Vietnam, which is becoming one of the world’s most popular travel destinations," said Etihad Airways president and chief executive officer James Hogan.

The Abu Dhabi–Ho Chi Minh City services are operated by an A330-200 with a two-class configuration - 22 seats in business and 240 in economy class.

Etihad's codeshare partner, Vietnam Airlines, is placing its VN code on the new service. Etihad Airways already has its EY code on Vietnam Airlines flights from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. In turn, Vietnam Airlines places its VN code on Etihad Airways operated flights from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi.

Flight schedule of the daily service between Abu Dhabi and Ho Chi Minh City

(HCM City = Ho Chi Minh City)

Other recent enhancements to Etihad's services included the "flying nanny" programme (see here), and deploying the A380 on Australia operations (see here).

For more information, visit www.etihad.com

Clement Huang