Etihad Launches Flights to Melbourne in 2009
Always on the rise of expanding its flying networks
Etihad Airways will launch non-stop daily services from its Abu Dhabi home-base to Melbourne, Australia starting March 2009.
Melbourne, which has a population of nearly four million people and is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, will become the third destination in Australia to be served by Etihad.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive officer, said: “Since the successful launch of our services to Sydney and Brisbane, we have been particularly eager to spread our wings and expand our Australian operations even further. I hope that our new Melbourne flights will also prove to be a winner for both commercial and leisure traveller alike.”
Melbourne follows the introduction of the highly successful routes to Sydney and Brisbane, which were launched earlier in 2007 by Etihad. Within its first year of Australian operations, the airline tripled flights to and from Australia and carried more than 100,000 passengers.
The airline announced recently that from October it will increase its flights to Sydney from seven to 11 flights per week.
Etihad Airways is noted as the first international airline during the last two years to commence flights into Melbourne.
“Etihad’s flights to Sydney and Brisbane have proved their popularity and I have little doubt that the airline’s latest service between to Melbourne will prove equally successful..”
Chris Woodruff, chief executive officer of Melbourne Airport, added: “Victoria has established itself as an attractive destination for business, trade and tourism. The new services represent the opportunities and growth potential that this vibrant state has to offer to world-class airlines such as Etihad Airways.”
The news follows the recent announcement by Etihad at the Farnborough International Airshow that the airline is to order 100 new Airbus and Boeing wide and narrow body aircraft at list prices of US $22 billion, for delivery between 2011 and 2020.
The airline remains on track to achieve its 2008 target of carrying six million passengers and increase to 50 the number of destinations on its growing global network by the end of the year.
