Etihad Airlines to start flights to Hyderabad

National airline of UAE, Etihad Airways, will soon launch operations between its home base Abu Dhabi and Hyderabad, India from November 2009.

The non-stop flights would be available four times a week. Etihad Airways has future plans to launch daily services to Hyderabad from January 2010. With this launch, Etihad Airways becomes the first airline to launch services to Hyderabad from Abu Dhabi. This would be airlines’ seventh Indian destination.

Hyderabad, also in South India like Bangalore, is considered the number two IT destination in India. There are a large number of people from the state of Andhra Pradesh who work in the Gulf countries, and the new Etihad Abu Dhabi – Hyderabad flight would be a boon for them.

Etihad Airways’ chief executive, James Hogan, was optimistic about this new foray to India and expects that the move would be appreciated by Indians, “Hyderabad is a key Indian destination not currently served directly from Abu Dhabi. It therefore represents a great opportunity for our airline, one which I am sure will be warmly welcomed by the large Hyderabadi community living and working within the Emirate,” he said.

A two class Airbus A320 would be used for the purpose. The A320 has a capacity to accommodate 140 passengers with 20 business class seats and 120 economy seats. Etihad Airways currently has a fleet of 42 aircraft including 37 A340s and five Boeing 777 aircraft.

Having won over 30 awards, the airlines has enjoyed a fair bit of success ever since it came into existence in 2003. Although Etihad has not made huge profits yet but expects to achieve break-even point in 2010.

In 2008, Etihad Airways carried over 6 million passengers to over 50 destinations which was a major increase from the previous year. Currently Etihad Airways currently operates flights to Europe, Middle East, North America, Indian subcontinent, Africa and Oceania.