Etihad to fly double daily to Munich

Etihad Airways will be increasing its Abu Dhabi-Munich services from seven flights per week to double daily from February 1.

The Bavarian capital was the carrier's first destination in Germany, with the current daily service from Abu Dhabi to Munich having commenced in June 2004. Since then, Etihad has carried more than a million passengers between the two cities.

According to Etihad, the increase in flight frequency will facilitate better connections with the airline's equity partner, Air Berlin.

James Hogan, president and chief executive of Etihad Airways, said: "The new schedule means that Etihad Airways and Air Berlin will together offer a combined 49 weekly services from four cities in Germany – Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin and Dusseldorf – to Abu Dhabi."

In addition, Munich-based passengers can take advantage of the better connection times provided by the additional daily service to transit via Abu Dhabi to destinations such as Melbourne, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, the Maldives, Seychelles and Johannesburg.

Etihad will operate the updated schedule using a three-class Airbus A330-300 featuring eight seats in Diamond first class, 32 in Pearl business and 191 in Coral economy class.

The gulf carrier has been making headlines lately, having spent nearly US$50 billion on new Airbus and Boeing passenger planes. The order comprises 50 of the forthcoming A350 (Airbus' rival to the B777X and B787) plus 36 of a newer A320 version. It is also buying 25 B777Xs plus an additional 30 B787s (see here).

etihad.com

Clement Huang