This follows the conclusion of an extended aviation bilateral agreement between the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Australia.
The airline's new chief executive, former Gulf Air boss James Hogan, said: ”We appreciate the support of the Government of Abu Dhabi in securing the additional rights that will allow us to start flights to Australia in the next few months. I believe that our service will significantly drive and support the development of trade and tourism between the UAE and Australia. We are finalising the arrangements and hope to announce full details shortly”.
Whilst Etihad is being coy on details there can be little doubt that the new service will integrate with the airline's operations out of Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester to Abu Dhabi. London to Sydney is extremely competitive. Amongst the airlines offering one stop services are British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Gulf Air, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic. Etihad will probably use A340-500s for the operation, its ”guests” offered Diamond Class (with swivelling tables enabling passengers to dine with the person sitting behind), Pearl Class (full flat seats), and an economy section called Coral with 10.4” seat back screens and full video on demand.
In 2006 Etihad launched 16 new international destinations: Casablanca, Dhaka, Doha, Islamabad, Jakarta, Jeddah, Khartoum, Lahore, Manchester, Manila, Muscat, New York, Paris, Peshawar, Riyadh and Tehran. The Kuala Lumpur route is also set for launch on 16 January, 2007.