02 Aug 2015 16:30
Etihad Airways has set a new benchmark for luxury travel on the UAE-Singapore route with the start of daily Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner services this weekend.
- State-of-the-art aircraft with ground-breaking First Suites, Business Studios and Economy Smart Seat on the Abu Dhabi-Singapore route effective 1 August 2015.
- Flight timings offer seamless two-way connections to 35 cities across Etihad Airways’ global network.
Flight EY470 departed Abu
Dhabi at 10pm last night and touched down at Singapore’s Changi Airport at
10.15am today. The return flight EY473 will depart Changi Airport for Abu Dhabi
at 8.10pm this evening and arrive in the UAE capital at 11.45pm local time.
Etihad Airways’ President
and Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said deploying the Dreamliner to
Singapore reflected the importance of the route to the airline and its
commitment to a best-in-class experience.
“The Etihad Airways B787-9
Dreamliner is the most customised aircraft of its kind in the sky.
“The ground-breaking,
next-generation First Suites, Business Studios and Economy Smart Seats offer a
superior level of luxury and comfort and will transform the inflight
experience.
“Never before has the
airline had such a compelling proposition nor been as strong a competitor in
the Singapore travel market.”
Mr Hogan also highlighted the airline’s Singapore flight timings and better connectivity to the network via the
Abu Dhabi hub.
“With evening departures in both directions, we offer
our guests in the UAE and Singapore more convenient travel times and improved
connectivity to 35 destinations in the GCC, Middle East, Africa and Europe.
“This includes seamless connections to our flagship
A380 services to London enabling guests to experience the luxurious First
Apartment and The Residence, the world’s first private three-room cabin on a
commercial airliner.”
Etihad Airways’ Boeing
787-9 Dreamliner carries 235 guests – eight in First Class, 28 in Business
Class and 199 in Economy Class –
and offers levels of luxury, comfort, entertainment and inflight connectivity
unrivalled in commercial aviation.
The décor and lighting on board Etihad Airways B787-9 Dreamliner is
inspired by contemporary modern Arabian design, complementing the airline’s
‘Facets of Abu Dhabi’ design identity introduced in late 2014.
First Class guests
experience luxurious private
suites with a large, Poltrona Frau leather-upholstered seat and ottoman, a
personal wardrobe, chilled mini-bar, a 24-inch TV monitor and centre seats
which can be joined to create a double bed. A professional onboard Chef
offers First Class guests a bespoke dining experience, preparing fine cuisine
inflight from a pantry of fresh produce.
Business Class guests enjoy
the comfort and space of the airline’s new Business Studios, each offering
direct aisle access, a fully flat bed of up to 80.5 inches in length, and a
personal 18-inch touch screen TV with noise-cancelling headsets. Food and
Beverage Managers, handpicked from some of the world’s best restaurants,
oversee the service of a ‘dine anytime’ a la carte and snack menu in the
Business Class cabin and can recommend the perfect accompaniment from the
airline’s boutique inflight cellar.
In Economy Class, the
innovative Economy Smart Seat provides enhanced comfort with a unique,
ergonomic ‘fixed wing’ headrest on each seat, a 32-inch seat pitch and a
generous 6-inch recline. Guests can enjoy more than 750 hours of on demand
entertainment on a large 11.1-inch HD screen with an intuitive interface and
video touch screen handset.
Families in all cabins
enjoy a helping hand from the airline’s specially trained Flying Nanny, a
member of the cabin crew who is on hand to offer assistance with children’s
meals and activity packs.
These guest experience
innovations are complemented by the Dreamliner’s DNA – the commercial aviation
industry’s largest windows; air that is cleaner, more humid and at a higher
pressure for better comfort; large overhead stowage bins; soothing LED
lighting; and technology to sense and counter turbulence for a smoother ride.
Etihad Airways’ order for two variants of the B787 (-9 and -10), is one
of the world’s largest for the type, totalling 71 aircraft. The airline currently
operates its B787-9s to Washington DC, Zurich
and Brisbane, with new destinations being added as it takes delivery of more of
the aircraft type. The airline will also begin taking delivery of B787s in a
two-class configuration from 2016.
The wide-body Boeing 787-9 is a stretched version of the advanced medium
to long-range twin engine B787-8, with a range of up to 8,300 nautical miles
and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85. It is 206 feet in length and has a wingspan
of 197 feet.
Etihad Airways commenced three weekly flights to
Singapore on September 28, 2007 and went daily on February 1, 2013. It introduced
its award-winning First Class to the route on 1 June 2015 with the deployment
of a three-class Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
Schedule for Abu Dhabi – Singapore from 1 August 2015
Flt No. |
Origin |
Dep |
Destination |
Arr |
Freq |
Aircraft |
EY470 |
Abu
Dhabi
(AUH) |
22:00 |
Singapore
(SIN) |
10:15+1 |
Daily |
B787-9 |
EY473 |
Singapore
(SIN) |
20:10 |
Abu
Dhabi
(AUH) |
23:45 |
Daily |
B787-9 |
Note: All departures and arrivals are listed in local
time.