Dubai: Etihad Airways’ reach into India is expected to bolster services to San Francisco when it launches on November 18.

Etihad has lined up the schedule of its new daily flight to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with an evening service from New Delhi into Abu Dhabi.

Etihad flight EY223 from New Delhi lands in Abu Dhabi at 11.35pm with the Abu Dhabi to San Francisco EY183 fight departing at 2.15am the following morning.

“The United States has been placed at the heart of our network development this year,” stated James Hogan, Etihad president and chief executive officer.

Etihad launched Los Angeles in June and is set to launch Dallas in December.

Etihad is bullish on the new Abu Dhabi-San Francisco route due to a 250,000 strong Indian community living in the San Francisco Bay area, it said in a statement.

The daily service will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) leased from Jet Airways.

Etihad’s Monday announcement came just days after the airline unveiled six new routes, Madrid (Spain), Edinburgh (Scotland), Kolkata (India), and Entebbe (Uganda), to start in the first half of 2015.