Etihad deploys Boeing 787 Dreamliner on daily Amsterdam route

Abu Dhabi airline Etihad Airways has introduced its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on its daily service to Amsterdam.

The move comes after the carrier operated the 787-9 to and from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam during the summer months last year.

In May, Etihad had said that it would deploy the aircraft five times weekly to Amsterdam, with an A330-200 operating the route on the remaining two days. However, the airline has opted to fly the Dreamliner on a daily basis.

Read more: Etihad to deploy Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Amsterdam, Madrid routes

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways CEO said: “The decision to upgrade our daily Amsterdam service to the 787 Dreamliner aircraft reflects the importance of the Netherlands market.

“We received great customer feedback when we first flew the ‎aircraft to the Dutch capital last summer.‎”

The 787 Dreamliner features 299 seats – including 28 business studios and 271 economy seats.

The business studios offer an increase of 20 per cent in personal space and a fully-flat bed. Upholstered in Poltrona Frau leather, each seat has an in-seat massage, a pneumatic cushion control system which enables passengers to adjust the firmness and comfort of their seat, and an 18-inch personal touch-screen TV.

Etihad currently operates a fleet of 16 Boeing 787-9s from Abu Dhabi to 14 destinations including Amman, Beijing, Beirut, Brisbane, Düsseldorf, Johannesburg, Perth, Riyadh, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Washington, D.C. and Zurich.

The airline will introduce the aircraft to Madrid from 1 October.

Seoul and Melbourne are due to join the 787 network over the next few months.

Overall, the airline has a fleet of over 120 Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

In 2013, it placed firm orders for 204 aircraft, which included 71 Boeing 787s, 25 Boeing 777Xs, 62 Airbus A350s and 10 Airbus A380s.