 ETIHAD LAUNCHES DAILY FLIGHTS TO CHENNAI
Published on August 07, 2008 by BalajiViewed 902 times
Etihad Airways commenced its services recently from the southern city of Chennai (Madras) thus reinforcing the airline’s commitment to India. The inaugural flight was received by Neerja Bhatia, Country Manager – India & Sri Lanka. Etihad Airways with a special lamp lighting ceremony by Mr. Dinesh Kumar, Airport Director, Chennai
and Mr. Brendan Joseph Cummings, RGM Airport Operations Asia Pacific, Etihad Airways.
The new Chennai service operates as flight EY266 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing Abu Dhabi at 08.50am and arriving in Chennai at 2.30pm. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the service operates as flight EY268, departing Abu Dhabi at 02.25pm and arriving in Chennai at 08.05pm.
Return flight EY267 departs Chennai on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 03.15pm, arriving in Abu Dhabi at 05.45pm the same day. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the service operates as flight EY269, departing Chennai at 09.00pm and arriving in the UAE capital at 11.30pm.
Etihad also launched services from Kozhikode on 2 August 2008. The launch of services to these 2 cities takes the number of Indian destinations served by Etihad to six.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “India is an enormously important market for Etihad and one we are very keen to expand further. The appetite for air travel between Abu Dhabi and India shows no sign of relenting and we hope to grow our Indian flying programme even further in the future. ”
Etihad operates a two class Airbus A320 on the daily Kozhikode and Chennai services, configured to carry 140 passengers with 20 in business class and 120 in economy class.
Etihad now operates 41 flights a week from the UAE to India, with flights from Abu Dhabi also serving the commercial capital Mumbai and the national capital New Delhi.
The airline has already secured flying rights to two further cities in India, Kolkata (Calcutta) and Jaipur, following successful bi-lateral talks between the governments of the UAE and India, aimed at further liberalising flying links between the two countries. The airline is finalising the launch dates for these additional destinations, with the new services set to start in early 2009.
Subject to future governmental approvals, the airline hopes to secure further traffic rights from Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The new additional 14 weekly Indian flights are part of Etihad’s expanded summer schedule which offers air travellers a greater choice of services and improved flight connections and is almost 50 per cent larger than the same period last year. The airline now operates a total of 728 weekly flights compared to 494 in the same season last year.
It brings the total number of global destinations now served by the Abu Dhabi-based airline to 47, a number which will rise to 50 by the end of 2008 with the launch of new services to Minsk in Belarus, Moscow in Russia and Almaty in Kazhakstan.
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