Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will launch its first service from Scotland with the start of a non-stop daily flight from Edinburgh to its home base of Abu Dhabi, the UAE?s capital city.
p>Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will launch its first service from Scotland with the start of a non-stop daily flight from Edinburgh to its home base of Abu Dhabi, the UAE?s capital city.
The new route, which will commence on June 8, will be operated with a two-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft, offering a total of 22 seats in Business Class and 240 seats in Economy.
In addition to providing a direct connection between Edinburgh and Abu Dhabi, the new service will enable passengers and cargo from Scotland to connect conveniently to the carrier's destinations across the Gulf region, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Edinburgh is the airline's first Scottish destination, and its third departure point from the UK. It currently offers triple-daily flights from London and double-daily flights from Manchester.
James Hogan, the carrier's president and CEO, said: ?Scotland has been on our radar for some time and we are delighted that the first direct connection between its capital, Edinburgh, and the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi, will be operational from 2015.
?The two cities share strong tourism links and the UAE is Scotland?s primary trade partner in the Gulf region, which will fuel strong demand among business and leisure travellers on our non-stop service. Travellers will also benefit from convenient connections to many other destinations, both on our own global network and through our relationships with other airlines.?
Return Economy Class fares are available from ?415 per person, to Bangkok from ?466, to Phuket from ?556, to Perth, Australia from ?661, and Mumbai from ?421, all from Edinburgh for bookings made by February 16, for travel until December 10.
For details see www.etihad.com or call 0345 608 1225 and for more information on Abu Dhabi see www.visitabudhabi.ae