Etihad Airways will operate a second daily service to Melbourne from August 1.
The Gulf carrier will roster another B777-300ER, with eight seats in first class, 40 in business and 280 in economy, on the route.
From August 1, flights EY462/463 and EY460/461 will fly between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne.
The first outbound service, EY462 will depart Abu Dhabi at 1030 and arrive in Melbourne at 0605 the following day. Return flight EY463 will take-off from Melbourne at 1515 and land in Abu Dhabi at 2320.
Flight EY460 will leave Abu Dhabi at 2220 and arrive in Melbourne at 1755 the following day. Return service EY461 will depart Melbourne at 2240 and land in Abu Dhabi at 0645 the next day.
Etihad first flew to Melbourne in 2009.
James Hogan, Etihad president and CEO, said: "We commenced flights to Melbourne in 2009 and it has since become one of the strongest routes on our network.
"Together with Virgin Australia and our other partner airlines, we have built a large and loyal customer base which has asked us for more choice. Today, I'm pleased to answer that call by announcing a doubling of our award-winning services to Melbourne.
"Significantly, we will be the only airline offering double daily non-stop flights between Melbourne and the UAE, and twice daily one-stop services to a vast network of business and leisure destinations worldwide."
Etihad last week unveiled its first A380 and B787-9 aircraft (see news, December 19).
Graham Smith
