Etihad to increase frequency of flights to Rome

UAE’s national carrier, Etihad Airways, will increase the frequency of its flights between Abu Dhabi and Rome from seven to 11 times per week starting later this year.

From November 4, the four extra services will allow business and leisure travellers with better access by way of double-daily connections between the Italian and UAE capitals on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The schedule of these flights is below:

Flight	Departing	Time	Arriving	Time	Days
EY83 New	Abu Dhabi	08:55	Rome	12:15	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
EY84 New	Rome	21:35	Abu Dhabi	06:40	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
EY85	Abu Dhabi	03:00	Rome	06:20	Daily
EY86	Rome	09:20	Abu Dhabi	18:25	Daily

“We’re delighted to announce the expansion of our Rome service, which underscores our commitment to providing more flexibility and better travel options to our guests in Italy, the UAE and across our network,” said Arik De, chief revenue officer at Etihad Airways.

“With Etihad Airways increasing its Rome flight frequency, visitors from the UAE will now have even more opportunities to get a taste of la dolce vita or connect onwards to one of 45 Italian, European or Americas destinations with our codeshare partner ITA Airways.

“Our second Rome service has also been timed to provide optimised local flight times for those visiting Abu Dhabi, with an evening departure and a convenient morning arrival that allows for maximised time in the capital.”

The airline’s services between Rome and Abu Dhabi will be operated using its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft which has 28 seats in business and 262 seats in economy.

It’s worth noting that Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their interline agreement and provide travellers additional itinerary options when visiting the UAE.

This summer, customers of each airline will be able to purchase a single ticket to fly into either Dubai or Abu Dhabi, with a seamless return via the other airport. In the initial stages of the expanded interline, each carrier will focus on attracting visitors to the UAE by developing inbound interline traffic from select points in Europe and China.

The ‘open jaw’ arrangement will allow visitors to cover as much ground as possible when exploring Abu Dhabi, Dubai or any other emirate, saving time by removing the need to fly home via their arrival airport.

This article originally appeared on Business Traveller Middle East