Etihad Airways has launched a second daily service between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne, bringing to 39 the number of weekly non-stop flights the carrier now offers to the four Australian cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
The second daily service departs Abu Dhabi at 1030, landing in Melbourne at 0605 the following day, with the return leg leaving the Victoria state capital at 1500, arriving back into Abu Dhabi at 2305.
The additional frequency is being served by a three-class B777-300ER aircraft fitted with eight first class seats, 40 in business class and 280 in economy.
The new service allows passengers to travel from London Heathrow on Etihad’s 2035 service landing into Abu Dhabi at 0650, and then connecting onto the Melbourne flight, for a total flight time of 24 hours 30 minutes.
On the return leg travellers can catch the 0255 flight from Abu Dhabi, landing back into London at 0735 for a total flight time of 25 hours 35 minutes.
Manchester-based passengers can avail of similar connections, with a 2025 service from Manchester on the outbound flight (24 hours 40 minutes flight time), and a 0740 arrival on the inbound service (25 hours 40 minutes flight time).
Double daily connectivity is also now be available to and from Dublin and Beirut on Etihad aircraft, as well as to and from Rome and Milan (in partnership with Alitalia), Berlin and Dusseldorf (Air Berlin), and Belgrade (Air Serbia).
Mark Caswell
