NEWS FLASH
Etihad Airways has upped the number of new routes it will launch next year as part of a major expansion, raising hope the carrier could make a comeback to the region, with plenty of opportunities on offer. Instead of the initially planned ten new routes, the Emirati flag carrier now says thirty new destinations will be announced before March 2025. “The date to watch out for is November 25, when we will announce eleven new cities. And then, next year, around January or February, we're going to announce twenty more cities. So, we have a lot of growth coming”, Etihad Airways’ Chief Revenue and Commercial Officer, Arik De, said. Etihad has been revamping its operations for nearly three years, since a major management change. Its fleet has grown from 65 aircraft post-pandemic to 73 last year and 96 this year. The airline last served the region in September 2020 when it maintained flights between Abu Dhabi and Belgrade.
Belgrade and maybe Zagreb or Sarajevo
ReplyDeleteSkopje
DeleteEY currently doesn't serve any airports in the Balkans or Eastern Europe. They have a lot of catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteThere is no market left. Why would you use Etihad when you can transfer with Turkish to the whole world or Emirates/flydubai as well? Plus Qatar.
DeleteStory old as story of chicken and egg. By this opinion, Swiss and Austrian should stop existing because Lufthansa already is flying to LJU, BEG, ZAG or SKP xD
DeleteThey will have tough times in BEG if ever come back. Wizz to AUH, FZ 14pw, QR, CZ, JU to TSN, CAN, PVG, HU to PEK, TK with XXpw. Only Aeroflot is out of the game.
ReplyDeleteLjubljana, Sarajevo?
ReplyDeleteLjubljana is probably coming in second wave. Still a lot of opportunities there (if not blocked by Fraport).
DeleteI hope its true but i doubt they will come to Lju before Zag or Beg
DeleteI agree. We don't have quite as much demand for higher end tourist transfers as ZAG, so unless Etihad operates narrowbodies, they won't come
DeleteEtihad will use their A321LR in our region (160 sits only).
DeleteThey definitely won't use A321LR to this region. They will use it on routes like Copenhagen and Lisbon.
DeleteThey get 40 of them and it's perfect capacity for our region, except BEG and (maybe) ZAG.
DeleteTheir A321LR has first class. No chance they will use aircraft with first class in Balkans!
DeleteΕΥ has Α320 neos and ceos. That's what they would use to our region.
DeleteThey did not order 40 LRs.
They have 20 LRs on order plus 20 options.
DeleteThey use their CEOs for routes of max 4 hours. They are not in long haul configuration.
DeleteEtihad is like a Bentley and the rest are like Chevrolet. Flying with Wizz or Etihad, it is not the same in any case.
ReplyDeleteMy prediction (if they come back to this region at all)
ReplyDeleteSJJ and DBV summer seasonal.
DBV 100%
ReplyDeleteSarajevo for sure :)
ReplyDeleteWhere in the Balkans would have the premium demand for a ME3 widebody? FZ would make sense, maybe 5W or 3L.
ReplyDeleteOnly ATH and IST can support year round widebodies from the ME3.
Delete100% Sarajevo
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone think they will come back to Edinburgh?
ReplyDelete