Dubai: Etihad Airways and airberlin, Europe's sixth biggest carrier, announced a significant increase in services to and from Abu Dhabi, Germany and Thailand.
This follows December's historic announcement that Etihad Airways had become airberlin's largest single shareholder, and airberlin's commencement of a four-per-week service between Berlin and Abu Dhabi on January 15.
From March 25, airberlin will operate three daily services to Abu Dhabi, including direct daily flights from two German hubs — Berlin and Düsseldorf — to the UAE capital. In addition and subject to government approval, airberlin will launch a new route between Abu Dhabi and Phuket, offering a daily year-round service to the popular island destination in Thailand.
Airberlin's expanded schedule to Abu Dhabi will also be complemented by Etihad Airways' own capacity increases to Germany and Thailand.
From April 15, Etihad Airways' Abu Dhabi-Düsseldorf service will increase to a daily frequency, providing a combined double daily offering with maximum connectivity over Etihad Airways' and airberlin's major hubs.
In addition, Etihad Airways will launch a third daily Abu Dhabi-Bangkok service from April 15.
New office opened
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, yesterday opened its Manchester guest contact centre with a reception for government officials and local business leaders.
Based at the Voyager Building at Manchester Airport, the guest contact centre is the airline's first in Europe and fourth in the world. It will operate in conjunction with existing guest contact centres in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and India. It will provide full time employment for 160 local people.
