Etihad daily to MEL

[Steve Jones]

From news.com.au

Etihad to fly daily to Middle East's jewel from Melbourne
July 28, 2008 12:10pm

Etihad Airways today launched a new non-stop daily service between Melbourne and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Etihad will begin operating the Melbourne services from March next year.

Melbourne is the third Australian city to service Etihad's flights, following Sydney and Brisbane.

Etihad Airways chief executive officer James Hogan said the services would open up new trade and tourism links between Melbourne and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is Australia's second largest commercial market in the Gulf region.

"We believe it will play a definitive role in facilitating and promoting the growing and significant trade, tourism and cultural ties between Australia and the Gulf region," he said.

Victorian Premier John Brumby said the new service was a coup for Melbourne, which last year saw a 20 per cent growth in passenger movements between Victoria and the UAE.

"Etihad's services will also further secure Victoria's position as a gateway to the UK and Europe and with 30 per cent of our visitors coming from these areas, the new flights will provide a great opportunity to attract even more people to Victoria," he said.

Victorian Industry and Trade Minister Theo Theophanous said the arrival of Etihad would add to competition in the skies and help keep flight prices down.

"This is great for Victoria, it's a boost for tourism, it's a boost for business and it's a boost for aviation jobs in this state," he said.

[Stuart Trevena]

Hi All

This excert was taken from their website:

Etihad Airways will operate a three cabin Airbus A340-600 to Melbourne. It is configured to carry 286 passengers, with 12 in first class, 30 in business class and 244 in economy class.

No schedule has been released as yet.

Stuart