Etihad Doubles Services To Karachi

Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways has announced plans to increase frequency between Abu Dhabi and Karachi by beginning a double daily service.

The additional service, which will begin on November 18, 2014, will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said in a statement.

The new service will add almost 1,904 new seats per week on the Abu Dhabi-Karachi route and will enable the carrier to offer 46 weekly return flights to four destinations in Pakistan.

The schedule for the double daily flights will also allow new markets such as Rome, Zurich and San Francisco to gain two-way connectivity, the statement added.

The additional flights are estimated to provide more than 700 weekly connections to key destinations in the GCC, Middle East, Europe and North America.

Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways’ chief strategy and planning officer, said: “The addition of the new flights will strengthen Etihad Airways’ presence in the Pakistani market and foster the growth of commercial and cultural relations between Pakistan and the UAE.

“Since the commencement of services in November 2004, more than a million passengers have travelled with Etihad Airways to and from Karachi.

“We believe the new flights will enable Etihad Airways to provide guests with more convenient travel options and timings, support the growth of business and leisure traffic over Abu Dhabi, and offer better flight connections on the global network.”

The Gulf airline will also offer additional seasonal services on the Abu Dhabi-Karachi route during September to mid-November ahead of the launch of the double daily service.

Etihad has been expanding its flight network while also stepping up the frequency on several existing routes.

In 2014, the carrier began services to Medina, Jaipur, Zurich, Los Angeles, Yerevan, Perth and Rome with daily flights to Phuket and Dallas to be launched soon.

Etihad announced earlier this year that it will add six new routes to its network in 2015. The carrier said that it will begin daily service to Kolkata, Madrid, Entebbe and Edinburg while offering a four times weekly service to Hong Kong and three times weekly flights to Algiers.

Following the route expansion, Etihad Airways’ global passenger and cargo network will increase to 107 destinations by next year.