Hey, that is thrilling! Etihad Airways has introduced that it’ll proceed to increase its Airbus A380 community, because the tremendous jumbo will fly to one more airport. Most attention-grabbing of all, it is a vacation spot to which Etihad has by no means earlier than flown the A380.
Etihad A380 will fly from Abu Dhabi to Singapore
Initially of the pandemic, Etihad Airways grounded its Airbus A380 fleet, with plans to possible retire the plane completely. Fortuitously the airline had a change of coronary heart, and as of the summer season of 2023, the Abu Dhabi-based airline introduced again the tremendous jumbo.
Etihad had introduced that its plan was to fly the A380 completely between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and London (LHR), with no agency plans to fly the jet to another vacation spot, because the airline supposed to carry again simply 4 A380s. That plan developed, and as of April 2024, the A380 additionally resumed flights to New York (JFK), after which as of November 2024, the A380 will even return to Paris (CDG). Etihad can be quickly flying the A380 to Jeddah (JED), however that’s just for a few dozen flights.
Now it has been introduced that Etihad will begin flying the Airbus A380 to Singapore (SIN). Particularly, as of February 1, 2025, Etihad’s A380 will fly every day between Abu Dhabi and Singapore, with the next schedule:
EY496 Abu Dhabi to Singapore departing 10:05PM arriving 9:35AM (+1 day)
EY497 Singapore to Abu Dhabi departing 7:25PM arriving 11:20PM
The three,673-mile flight is blocked at 7hr30min eastbound and 7hr55min westbound. As you’ll be able to see, the plane utilization right here is fairly terrible, on condition that the airplane is on the bottom in Singapore for practically 10 hours, and this roundtrip requires multiple body.
This new route is feasible because of Etihad now planning on reactivating a sixth Airbus A380 (the fifth body is being reactivated for the Paris route). Beforehand the airline solely formally introduced plans to activate 5 of those, so it’s good to see extra of those jets returning to the skies.
This Singapore flight was beforehand scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, in order that represents fairly a passenger expertise and capability improve, because the 777 presents Etihad’s worst lengthy haul passenger expertise.
With Etihad’s up to date A380 schedule, the airline has plans to fly the A380 2x every day to London, 1x every day to New York, 1x every day to Paris, and 1x every day to Singapore.
Right here’s how Etihad CEO Antonoaldo Neves describes this improvement:
“We’re thrilled to announce that our iconic A380 plane will start serving the Singapore route early subsequent yr. This plane gives our enterprise and leisure travellers with an distinctive flying expertise and seamless connections to our Center East, European, and North American networks. It highlights Etihad’s dedication to optimising journey to Abu Dhabi and past, making certain extra comfort and luxury for our friends.”
“We could have our sixth A380 on-line subsequent yr as we construct our capability additional to cater for the journey wants of our friends.”
What the Etihad A380 means for passengers
Etihad’s Airbus A380s are some fairly particular jets, they usually’ve supplied fairly a halo impact for the airline. Etihad’s A380s are configured with a complete of 485 seats.
When the A380 flies to Singapore, you’ll be able to anticipate that Etihad will introduce The Residence on this route, which is a non-public three room suite positioned on the entrance of the primary class cabin. That is probably the most unique product obtainable in industrial aviation.
Pre-pandemic, this expertise price tens of hundreds of {dollars}. Nonetheless, Etihad is now dealing with this in another way than again then. The airline is now promoting upgrades to this for top notch passengers who’re ticketed by Etihad. The associated fee to improve to The Residence is usually a number of thousand {dollars}.
We’re additionally seeing the introduction of the Etihad First Class Residences on the Singapore route, as there are 9 of these on the airplane. This is among the most spectacular top notch exhausting merchandise on the market, as there’s only a single aisle within the heart of the cabin, and one suite on either side. It is a a lot better top notch product than you’ll discover on Etihad’s 787s. Etihad additionally has a stellar gentle product these days, making for an excellent expertise.
There are then 70 enterprise class seats, that are the Etihad Enterprise Studios, the identical product you’ll discover on the 787. It is a strong enterprise class product, however not so good as Etihad’s new A350 enterprise class, or the service’s new 787-9 enterprise class.
Lastly, there are 405 economic system class seats, together with 80 with further legroom. This takes up all the decrease deck, as seats are in a 3-4-3 configuration.
Backside line
As of February 1, 2025, Etihad will begin flying the Airbus A380 between Abu Dhabi and Singapore. This can symbolize Etihad’s fourth constant A380 vacation spot out of Abu Dhabi, complementing present flights to London, New York, and Paris. This new route is feasible because of Etihad reactivating a sixth Airbus A380.
In early 2023, we thought the A380 would by no means fly once more for Etihad. Then when it lastly did return, we had been instructed it will simply fly to London. It’s good to see this lovely jet having now returned to New York, quickly to Paris, after which to Singapore.
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