Etihad Airways has launched an A380 service to Sydney.
The Gulf carrier is flying the superjumbo daily between Abu Dhabi and Sydney, one of two frequencies it operates on the route, the other being a four-times weekly B777-300ER service upgraded from an A340-600.
Flight EY454 departed Abu Dhabi at 2200 last night and arrived in Sydney Kingsford Smith airport at 1755 local time (0755 GMT) today. Return service EY455 will leave Sydney at 2125 tonight, landing in Abu Dhabi at 0615 tomorrow.
Sydney schedule: EY6450/6451 are operated by Virgin Australia
The airline currently flies the superjumbo twice daily to London Heathrow (see news, April 30). A third daily A380 service to LHR is due in August, and a service to New York JFK in December (see news, March 4).
Etihad CEO James Hogan said: "The A380 out of Sydney connects seamlessly at the Abu Dhabi hub to the A380 to London, offering our London-bound guests the comfort and convenience of an all-A380 service all the way."
He added: "In 2014, we achieved an 88 per cent seat load factor on our Sydney route. The A380 will provide us with much-needed additional capacity, particularly in business class, where we consistently enjoy high levels of demand for our services.
"This capacity increase is particularly good news for our premium guests and for high-end leisure and business tourism at both ends of the Sydney-London route."
Etihad will codeshare on the new A380 services with Virgin Australia. It already adds its EY code on Virgin Australia flights from Sydney to Adelaide, Albury, Auckland, Ayers Rock (Uluru), Ballina, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Christchurch, Coffs Harbour, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hervey Bay, Hobart, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Perth, Port Macquarie, Queenstown, Sunshine Coast, Tamworth and Townsville.
Etihad's A380 contains a Residence by Etihad three-room suite, with a living room, ensuite shower room, bedroom and dedicated butler, and nine First Apartments, each featuring a reclining lounge chair and an ottoman and opens up to become a separate 80.5-inch fully-flat bed. It also has 70 business class seats and 417 economy seats.
To read a review of business class on Etihad's A380, click here.
Graham Smith
