Etihad delivers Melbourne boost

Etihad delivers Melbourne boost
By admin


Etihad will increase its number of seats between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne by more than 12% towards the end of the year when it deploys larger aircraft on the route.

From December 1, the carrier will operate a Boeing 777-300ER with 328 seats, replacing the current Airbus A340 aircraft. It will add 252 seats per week on the daily services, or 12.3%.

The upgrade reflects the airline's confidence in the Victorian market, according to president and chief executive James Hogan who made the announcement at a dinner hosted by the Victorian government in Abu Dhabi.

"Melbourne is one of the best-performing routes in our global network, and has the highest passenger load factor of our three Australian destinations," he said.

"In addition to increasing the number of seats we offer to Melbourne, we also continue to invest in the city, having opened a line maitenance base at Melbourne Airport and secured high-profile sponsorships of Etihad Stadium and the Melbourne Recital Centre".

Meanwhile, its partner airline, Airberlin, in which Etihad has a 29.21% stake, revealed it had returned to profitability in 2012, with a positive operating result of 70.2 million euro – up more than 300 million euro on the previous year.

The strategic partnership with Etihad delivered 50 million euro in additional revenues, as synergies and cost savings between the two airlines started to taked effect.

"Our results are just now reflecting the first 12 months of a long term partnership which will deliver substantial commercial and operational benefits," chief executive Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said.

"In 2013, we are confident that we'll achieve further revenue enhancements and, above all, further cost synergies with our partner Etihad Airways."

 

 

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