16 Jul 2014 14:00
- First ever commercial air link between Perth
and Abu Dhabi
- One-stop flights from Perth to 30
destinations worldwide
- Codeshare with Virgin Australia between Perth
and Abu Dhabi and to 13 airports throughout Western Australia
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, today
commenced daily, non-stop services between Perth and Abu Dhabi.
The inaugural flight – EY486 – touched down at Perth International
Airport at 1.10pm where it was greeted by a water cannon salute and a
traditional ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony by members of the local Indigenous
community.
Perth, the capital of Western Australia, is Etihad Airways’ fourth
Australian gateway alongside Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The new daily
flights bring to 351 the total number of weekly services the airline
offers between Australia and Abu Dhabi.
The new Perth flights offer an attractive and compelling proposition for
travellers to and from the GCC countries, Middle East, Africa, Europe and USA
with the convenience of one stop in Abu Dhabi. Cities such as Cairo, Dublin,
London, Manchester, Doha, Jeddah, Beirut and New York will now be linked
seamlessly with the Western Australian capital.
Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said
Perth was a strategically important addition to Etihad Airways’ Australian and
global network.
“Today’s inaugural flight creates the first commercial air link between
Perth and Abu Dhabi and marks the beginning of an exciting new era of
partnership between the state of Western Australia and the Emirate of Abu
Dhabi.
“Abu Dhabi and Perth are each popular business travel and holiday
destinations – attracting 2.8 million and 7.3 million visitors respectively in
2013 – and we are already seeing a strong commercial response to the new route
from travellers in the UAE and Western Australia.”
Mr Hogan also pointed to data which shows that Western Australia is the
largest contributor to trade between the UAE and Australia, accounting for 57
per cent of the $A6.4 billion total in 2013.
“With two-way trade between the UAE and Western Australia growing at an
annual rate of between 25 to 30 per cent in recent years we are forecasting
strong demand for our cargo business.”
Mr Hogan noted interest in travel to Western Australia – particularly
from the Middle East, UK, Ireland, Europe and east coast USA – and pledged to
work with the airline’s government and industry partners to develop these
visitor markets.
“We believe there is a significant opportunity to contribute to the
state’s economic success by offering international tourists convenient
connections to Western Australia – in 2013 alone tourism contributed $A7.7
billion to the West Australian economy through visitor spend.”
Brad Geatches, Chief Executive Officer of Perth Airport said: “We are
very excited to welcome Etihad Airways to Perth today. We have been working with
the airline for some time now and it is pleasing to celebrate the arrival of
the inaugural flight.”
“The commencement of Etihad Airways’ Perth operations will add
approximately 190,000 annual seats from Perth to the Middle East.”
“The Middle East has become increasing popular as a hub for passengers
travelling between Perth and North America, as well as for passengers between
Perth and Europe.”
“When the construction of the Domestic Pier at Perth Airport’s Terminal
1 is complete, Etihad Airways and its codeshare partner Virgin Australia will
be co-located in one terminal enabling easy connections to Virgin’s domestic
network, as well as regional connections in the nearby Terminal 2.”
Mr Hogan said Etihad Airways’ partnership with Virgin Australia enabled
it to offer connectivity to towns and cities outside the Perth metropolitan
area and brought new competition to these markets.
“Our partnership with Virgin Australia enables us to offer codeshare
flights from Perth to 13 regional airports throughout the state of Western
Australia.
“Guests can now connect seamlessly between Virgin Australia’s regional
network and Etihad Airways’ global network with the convenience of
through-checked baggage, a single ticket purchase and convenient transfer times.”
Travellers can connect to Etihad Airways’ international flights by
flying with Virgin Australia from Albany, Broome, Busselton, Derby, Esperance,
Geraldton, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kununurra, Karratha, Paraburdoo, Port Hedland,
Ravensthorpe and Newman.
Virgin Australia will also place its VA code on Etihad Airways’
Perth-Abu Dhabi flights.
The Perth route will be operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 262
seats – 22 seats in Pearl Business Class and 240 in Coral Economy Class.
The new Perth flights augment Etihad Airways’ existing services to
Australia – double daily to Sydney in conjunction with Virgin Australia, and
daily to Brisbane and Melbourne.
1. Includes three Sydney-Abu Dhabi services operated by Virgin Australia