Etihad Airways is to add services to five new cities in China over the next year under a major expansion of its operations to the country.
The Abu Dhabi-based carrier will start daily flights to Shanghai Pudong airport at the start of October, before adding services to Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shandong and Chengdu in March next year. It will serve Guangzhou daily and operate 14 weekly frequencies across the other three cities.
Etihad currently serves Beijing Daxing airport on mainland China daily from Abu Dhabi. The new routes will increase to 35 the number of mainland China frequencies the Gulf carrier serves from Abu Dhabi. The airline will deploy Boeing 787s on the new routes.
“China is a strategically important market for Etihad and a key pillar of our network growth,” says Etihad Airways chief executive Antonoaldo Neves. “By adding five new destinations and increasing frequencies, we are strengthening connectivity across one of the world’s most important economic corridors.”
The new flights will operate as part of its joint venture with China Eastern Airways. The partners launched joint venture operations in April last year when the Chinese carrier began flights from Shanghai to Abu Dhabi.
Etihad last year placed 60 new widebody commitments from Airbus and Boeing. These including some delivery slots in 2027 to enable it to expand its long-haul network in the near-term.
The Gulf carrier notes the new routes will also boost its China its cargo capabilities in the country, which it has also supplemented through a cargo joint venture with Chinese freight operator SF Airlines.
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