Melbourne gets Etihad luxury treatment

Etihad’s much-hyped The Residence offering is set to arrive in Melbourne as the airline announced it would commence daily A380 services between Abu Dhabi and the Victorian capital from June 1 2016.

The superjumbo service will one of the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft currently deployed on the route to operate flights EY460/461.

The luxury three-room suite in the sky which includes a private butler is a highlight of the aircraft which also features a range of other product and service enhancements.

President and chief executive James Hogan highlighted the “superior” level of luxury, comfort, service and technology offered by the new aircraft.

“Melbourne is an important point on our global network, and our Abu Dhabi to Melbourne services continue to generate very high seat load factors on a year-round basis,” he said.

He reported a strong response to the August introduction of a second daily service on the route.

“After just three months of operations, demand for our second daily service is already exceeding our expectations,” Hogan said.

“Deploying the 496-seat A380 to Melbourne will enable us to accelerate our growth in the Victorian market by providing additional capacity, particularly in business class, where demand for seats continually outstrips supply.”

The new A380 will increase the total number of two-way seats on the Melbourne-Abu Dhabi route by 26% to more than 11,500 seats per week.