ABU DHABI, 13 November 2003 — Etihad, the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) new national airline, made its first scheduled flight yesterday, linking Abu Dhabi to Beirut.
Flight EY111 which departed at 12:30 p.m. (0830 GMT) was the first of a thrice weekly service that will operate Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “The inaugural flight took off from Abu Dhabi on time and was nearly full,” an airline spokesman told reporters.
Etihad (meaning “union” in Arabic) plans to launch a service to Damascus and then extend its network to cover other Middle East capitals, the Indian Subcontinent, Far East and Britain.
Etihad is attempting to offer high class service with “guest zones” — Diamond, Pearl and Coral — rather than fare classes.
Operations have commenced with two wide-bodied Airbus A330-200 passenger jets, growing to six or eight by the end of 2003.
The first ceremonial flight took place last week from Abu Dhabi to Al-Ain.
The 500-million-dirham ($136-million) capitalized airline is fully owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.
Sharjah launched its own airline at the start of November billing Air Arabia as the first low-cost carrier in the Middle East.
Since 1985, Dubai has operated Emirates airlines, which aims to become the leading Middle East carrier.
Abu Dhabi, in association with Bahrain and Oman, also finances Gulf Air, set up in 1950 but which has struggled in recent years following the launch of Oman Air and Qatar Airways.
