Etihad Airways today announced plans for a second daily non-stop service between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne from 1st August 2015.

The additional flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with eight seats in First Class, 40 in Business Class and 280 in Economy Class. This will add more than 4,500 seats per week to the route, supporting strong two-way demand. It will also double the airline’s freight handling capacity providing new opportunities for trade.

The second daily non-stop flight will offer travellers more flexibility with two timings from which to choose and more than double the number of weekly flight connections.

Melbourne will now be linked to more than 50 cities across Etihad Airways global network, including 20 double daily services to popular destinations in the Middle East and Europe such as London, Manchester, Dublin and Beirut. In conjunction with its equity partners, Etihad Airways will offer double daily services to Rome and Milan with Alitalia, Berlin and Dusseldorf with airberlin, and Belgrade with Air Serbia.

There will also be new daily one-stop connections to destinations such as Edinburgh, Geneva, Madrid and Zurich on the Etihad Airways network, Stuttgart and Vienna operated by the airberlin Group, and Venice operated by Alitalia, and improved access to other key destinations such as Athens and Brussels.

James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, 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.

Tourism and Major Events Minister in the Parliament of Victoria, John Eren, welcomed today’s announcement:
"Attracting new airline services is a long standing and continuing priority for the Victorian Government as we seek to grow tourism across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

"Etihad Airways’ announcement represents another vote of confidence in Victoria as a leading tourism destination and will deliver greater choice for leisure and business travellers." Mr. Hogan added, "Etihad Airways has close ties to Australia with significant investments in our workforce, infrastructure, tourism, and commercial partnerships across four states. Investing more resources into Victoria not only deepens this commitment but also delivers major economic benefits ­ particularly through Etihad Cargo, the airline’s freight operation, and its support for two-way trade."
 

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