Etihad Airways, national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, will add a new Boeing 777-300ER aircrafts to its fleet in December, 2013, increasing its carrying capacity from Abu Dhabi To Melbourne, reports Forbes Middle East.
Etihad Airways will be replacing its Airbus A340 fleet with the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, a three class-Diamond, Pearl and Coral- aircraft with 328 passenger seats. This will increase the seats by 252 per week. The Boeing 777-300ER will include 8 seats in Diamond First class, 40 seats in Pearl Business class and 280 seats in Coral Economy class, says the report.
"Melbourne is one of the best-performing routes in our global network, and has the highest passenger load factor of our three Australian destinations," James Hogan, President and CEO of Etihad Airways, said during the service upgrade announcement in Abu Dhabi.
The announcement was made at a business dinner meeting and was hosted by the Victorian government, says the report.
"Victorians are not only flying with Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi, an emerging business and leisure destination, but also on to destinations in the Gulf region, Middle East, Europe and Africa," Hogan continued.
Etihad Airways is currently operating 13 Boeing 777s and the addition of five more later this year will increase capacity on the Abu Dhabi to Melbourne route.
"Our decision to increase capacity between Melbourne and Abu Dhabi reflects not only the growth we have achieved so far, but also our confidence in the Victorian market," Hogan said. "In addition to increasing the number of seats we offer to Melbourne, we also continue to invest in the city, having opened a line maintenance base at Melbourne Airport and secured high-profile sponsorships of Etihad Stadium and the Melbourne Recital Centre."
