Etihad Airways is celebrating the arrival of three new Boeing 787-9 aircraft this weekend. The national airline of the UAE welcomed the latest additions to its expanding fleet at Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport.
The new aircraft will begin operations this month, helping Etihad to expand in line with its ambitious roadmap which will see it fly to 125 destinations with more than 160 aircraft by 2030.
Antonoaldo Neves, Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways, said: “We are thrilled to welcome these brand-new, state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliners to Abu Dhabi. Their arrival is key to our network expansion strategy and comes at the perfect time as we continue to add multiple new destinations and expand frequencies into key markets.
“These new aircraft support our commitment to Abu Dhabi, allowing us to bring more guests to experience the incredible capital of the UAE, either as their end destination or on a stopover when connecting across our expanding network.”
The 787-9s will further bolster Etihad’s fleet as it launches additional destinations over the coming months. Etihad will begin flying to Boston, its fourth US gateway, on March 31, and will add Nairobi and Bali to the network as well as summer routes to Nice, Malaga, Mykonos and Santorini.
The arrival of the three new Dreamliners follows the new Boeing 787-10 received in October 2023, which added further capacity to support Etihad’s network expansion. The airline added new routes to Osaka, Copenhagen and Dusseldorf in quarter four of 2023, as well as Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram in the Kerala region of India on New Year’s Day.
Etihad has also expanded across multiple markets with additional flight frequencies and improved connectivity across the network.
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners are up to 25 per cent more fuel efficient than many comparable aircraft of their size. In total, Etihad now operates 43 Dreamliners and a total fleet of 88 aircraft including the Airbus A380, A350, A320 family, and Boeing 777.
Etihad’s new 787 Dreamliner features a brand-new cabin interior with 32 Business Suites and 271 seats in Economy.