JEDDAH, 22 December 2004 — The first flight of Etihad Airways landed in Dammam from Abu Dhabi yesterday marking the launch of the UAE national airline’s services to Saudi Arabia.
The airline’s first flight to Riyadh is arriving today. The airline will fly to both destinations thrice a week, a spokesperson told Arab News on the phone from the UAE. “We’re not planning services to Jeddah now, but maybe after the Haj,” the spokesperson said.
The airline was formally launched on Nov. 5, 2003, with a ceremonial flight from Abu Dhabi to Al-Ain. The airline’s commercial operations started a week later with the first scheduled flight from Abu Dhabi to Beirut. It has since been operating three services a week to the Lebanese capital and now flies to 16 destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
Etihad this month finalized a $1 billion deal to buy five Boeing 777-300 ER planes for a total of $1.09 billion to serve new routes in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.
The airline currently operates four wide-bodied Airbus A330-200s and an A340-300, in addition to a Boeing 767 that was leased recently. It plans to have 10 wide-bodied aircraft by the end of 2005.
