From right: Mohammad Al Bulooki and Peter Baumgartner of Etihad; HE Ni Jian, Chinese Ambassador to the UAE; Saif Saeed Ghobash, director general of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority
Etihad Airways has upgraded its Beijing route with the deployment of its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
The modern twin-aisle jet touched down in the Chinese capital for the first time on Monday morning, following an overnight flight from Abu Dhabi.
The Dreamliner features 299 of Etihad’s newest seats, including 28 seats in business class, all of which feature direct aisle access, and 271 in economy. This represents a 14% capacity increase compared to the Airbus A330 that previously operated the route.
“Since launching flights between our two capitals of Abu Dhabi and Beijing nine years ago, we have experienced the huge growth of China’s outbound tourism market and enjoyed strong demand from business and leisure travellers,” said Peter Baumgartner, Etihad’s CEO.
“The decision to upgrade our operations to the Dreamliner reflects the importance of Beijing and the Chinese market to the airline, and the sustained development of economic relations between the two countries.”
The launch of 787 flights to Beijing follows the deployment of the new aircraft on the Abu Dhabi-Shanghai route in August 2016.
