Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad is to launch all-economy A320 aircraft on certain short-haul destinations with “high demand for economy traffic and low demand for premium traffic”.
The aircraft will go into service in October, and will be configured for 162 economy seats, an increase of 42 on the current economy capacity on these aircraft.
Initially there will be two aircraft with the all-economy layout, plying routes to Alexandria, Calicut, Colombo, Damascus, Doha and Thiruvananthapuram, although there are plans to increase the fleet to ten one-class A320s, serving existing routes and new destinations with “low demand for premium travel”.
The aircraft will feature the same economy product currently in service on the carrier’s narrow body fleet, with seatback TVs, and a seat pitch of 32 inches. Etihad currently has a fleet of 15 A320 aircraft, with a further 35 on order.
The carrier recently announced a move to ten across seating in economy on its B777 aircraft – for more information click here.
Visit etihadairways.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
