Etihad adds capacity on MENA routes to meet summer demand

Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways is increasing capacity to Dammam, Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca and Rabat to meet additional demand during the peak June – September travel period.

The airline plans to introduce an additional three weekly morning flights to Dammam in Saudi Arabia from June 26 while a daily flight service will be launched from July 9.

An Airbus 320 will be used to meet the additional capacity.

Flight EY321 will depart from Abu Dhabi at 8.40am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and land at Dammam at 9.05am (from June 26 to July 8).

The return flight EY322 will depart from the Saudi city at 10.10am and land in the UAE capital at 12.30pm.

The capacity increase to Dammam will raise frequency on the route to four daily services year-round, a statement said.

The airline, which currently flies once daily to Amman with a Boeing 787, plans to add one daily early morning flight to the Jordanian capital between June 25 and September 30.

Flight EY511 will depart at 12.55am from Abu Dhabi and arrive in Amman at 3.05am. The return flight will depart from the Jordanian capital at 4.10am and arrive in the UAE capital at 8.10am.

Four extra weekly flights will be introduced on the Beirut route between August 1 and September 10, taking frequency up from seven to 11 services a week. From August 1, seven of the flights to Lebanon’s capital city will also operate with the Boeing 787 featuring 299 seats.

Flight EY533 will depart from Abu Dhabi on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays at 2.40pm and arrive in Beirut at 5.55pm. The return flight EY534 will depart from the Lebanese capital at 6.55pm and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 11.55pm.

Etihad will also add seven midday flights a week to Egypt’s capital Cairo, taking frequency up to five daily services between August 1 and September 10.

Flight EY647 will leave from the UAE capital at 11.50am and land in Cairo at 1.40pm. Return flight EY648 will depart from the Egyptian city at 2.50pm and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 8.30pm.

In Morocco, the daily Casablanca services will be upgraded from an Airbus A330-300 to A340-600 aircraft between August 1 and September 10. Meanwhile, frequency to Morocco’s capital city of Rabat will increase from two to three flights a week with a new Sunday service operating between August 6 and September 3.

Flight EY615 will leave from Abu Dhabi at 10.40am and arrive in Rabat at 4.15pm. The return flight will leave from the Moroccan capital at 7.10pm and 5.50am the next day.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways CEO, said: “By further aligning our capacity with demand during the busy upcoming months, the extra services will help facilitate our guests’ travel to and from these cities and our popular connecting destinations in the GCC, Asia, Australia and the Indian Subcontinent.”