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Etihad celebrates 15 years of German operations
UAE national carrier Etihad Airways is celebrating 15 years of its operations in Germany. The airline, which launched its debut Munich flight in 2004, now operates five times a day between its hub Abu Dhabi and Germany.
UAE national carrier Etihad Airways is celebrating 15 years of its operations in Germany. The airline, which launched its debut Munich flight in 2004, now operates five times a day between its hub Abu Dhabi and Germany.
This comes as the UAE and Germany intensify bilateral co-operation following the visit of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to Germany this week, said a statement from the airline.
The Emirati carrier had launched the daily flights from its hub Abu Dhabi and Munich in June 2004.
Both Munich and the Swiss city of Geneva received their first Etihad flights that month, making them the first two destinations served by the airline in continental Europe.
One year later, in June 2005, Etihad commenced daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Frankfurt. Then five years later, in December 2011, it kicked off its Dusseldorf services.
Today, Etihad Airways operates five times a day between Abu Dhabi and Germany – twice-daily to Frankfurt and Munich, and daily to Dusseldorf, it added.
On the key achievement, Etihad Aviation Group CEO Tony Douglas said: "Germany is a key destination in our global network."
"We serve more destinations in Germany than any other country in Europe, and provide significant connections between Germany and many other destinations in our network, via our Abu Dhabi hub," he stated.
"Abu Dhabi is focused on strong economic growth, and Etihad Airways is a key enabler of this development. Germany is a major contributor to both the growth of Etihad and that of the UAE capital," he noted.
In addition to passenger services, Etihad also provides almost 1,800 tonne of cargo capacity each week between Abu Dhabi and Germany, including three dedicated freighter flights.
In the past decade, the Emirati carrier had flown more than 750,000 tonnes of cargo to and from Germany, including exports such as automobiles, machinery, pharmaceuticals and garments.
In Abu Dhabi, Etihad connects its flights to and from Germany with destinations throughout Asia, the Indian sub-continent, Australia and the Middle East.
In addition to these services, Etihad has codeshare partnerships with Lufthansa German Airlines on flights linking Frankfurt and Munich to a range of other European destinations, and deliver passengers to and from Germany on behalf of other codeshare partner airlines.
Last year, Etihad entered a codeshare with German rail services from Frankfurt to four key German cities – Liepzig, Nuremburg, Hamburg and Stuttgart, said the Abu Dhabi airline.
Etihad is increasing its deployment of new Boeing787 Dreamliner around its global network, and will soon add more 787 aircraft in destinations including Germany.-TradeArabia News Service