Etihad to launch flights to Ethiopia

Etihad Airways will add the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to its rapidly growing network in November. The airline will also start flying to the Indian city of Ahmedabad in the same month. The two new cities will expand the airline’s reach to 86 passenger and cargo destinations around the world. The new routes will each be served by an Airbus A320 aircraft and support Etihad Airways’ aims to connect key strategic cities with its home base of Abu Dhabi, enhancing commercial and leisure travel with the UAE’s capital city. Flights between Abu Dhabi and Addis Ababa, its ninth destination in Africa, will initially operate five times a week, increasing to daily in 2013. Flights will operate daily between Abu Dhabi and Ahmedabad, the airline’s ninth destination in India. Ethiopia is the largest African market that Etihad Airways is yet to serve and the second most populous country in Africa. It is expected to contribute strong business and leisure traffic within the airline’s network. There is also a growing Ethiopian population living and working in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, which will benefit from the new Abu Dhabi – Addis Ababa service. Etihad Airways’ new service to Ahmedabad will offer nearly 1,000 seats a week into the Guajarati city and the November 2012 launch will coincide with the beginning of the peak travel season in India.