Etihad Airways has been celebrating the return of its Airbus A380 into front-line service, with the type re-debuting between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow.
The move marks the first of four Airbus A380s the aircraft is returning to service.
Today’s inaugural flight departed Abu Dhabi at 02:05 hrs and landed at London Heathrow at 06:45 hrs local time. Before take-off, executives from Etihad, Abu Dhabi Airport and the Department of Culture and Tourism gathered to welcome back the aircraft. On board, guests were treated to A380-themed souvenirs to celebrate the occasion.
Etihad Airways Airbus A380 features 9 First Class “Apartments”, 70 Business Class “Studios”, 68 Economy Space seats and 337 Economy Class seats… as well as The Residence. which offers a three-room suite in the sky.
If you want to fly The Residence, you’ll need to purchase a First class ticket and then choose to upgrade to The Residence, from 2,500 USD per person, one way. Those with a stack of Etihad Guest Miles can also upgrade.
In Quotes
Antonoaldo Neves, Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways, says:
“We’re excited to once again welcome guests onboard Etihad’s A380s and step into a truly remarkable experience. Whether our guests are choosing to fly in Economy, Business, First or our three-room suite in the sky The Residence, this aircraft provides an elevated flying experience which we take extreme pride in.
“The aircraft adds much needed capacity connecting Abu Dhabi with London Heathrow and allows us to build our network and increase frequencies across the network. With a surge in demand for travel over the summer, the return of our much-loved A380 comes at the perfect time.”
Deployment
Etihad’s A380 aircraft will operate on the Abu Dhabi – London route on flights EY11 and EY12 from 25 July and EY19 and EY20 from 1 August. Etihad’s A380s will connect people between the UK, the UAE and onwards across the Etihad network.
Etihad’s A380 service is available to book now on etihad.com or through the usual distribution channels.
One word: Capacity
A lot of us love the Airbus A380 – with good reason. Be it the sheer size of the thing, the double-decker experience, or that in a lot of cases, there’s room in all classes of travel.
But there’s only one real reason the A380 is back – capacity. It converts a 787-9 flight (235 available seats) to 497 available seats – an uplift of 262 seats a flight.
Or an extra 1,834 seats a week between London and Abu Dhabi.
Even with the fuel to power one of these aircraft, it is an easy way to load more passengers onto aircraft, whilst offering premium products installed, whilst not having to request the cost of an extra slot at one of the world’s most congested airports.
Considering Etihad’s business model is to funnel passengers through its Abu Dhabi hub, the more people, the better.
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