Etihad to increase flights to Colombo

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, starting from January 1, 2013 will increase flights to the Indian city of Kozhikode and Colombo.

Colombo would see a increase from four to seven per week starting from January 2, 2013.These increases will coincide with the re-introduction of the Pearl Business class product on both routes to cater for the growing business and corporate demand and high-end leisure traffic.

The additional services will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft fitted with 16 Pearl Business Class seats and will almost double capacity on both routes.

They will also improve the number of connections over the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub to over 370 connections a week for Kozhikode (representing an increase of 240 percent) and 300 connections a week for Colombo (representing an increase of 170 percent).

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “India and Sri Lanka are important destinations for us due to strong local demand and growing traffic beyond Abu Dhabi to many key destinations across our global network.

“Kozhikode and Colombo are fast growing cities that serve as major business and trade hubs with many of their inhabitants working in the Gulf region. We are confident that these additional flights will be immensely beneficial to them and will offer them more options to visit their families and relatives.”