UAE-based carrier Etihad Airways will resume operations to Beijing this year.. Etihad will fly to Beijing from Abu Dhabi starting from December 7, 2020.
Etihad said that it will fly its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Beijing and it will have business and economy cabins. Earlier, Etihad resumed operations to Shanghai, after grounding its flights for three months earlier this year.
Martin Drew, senior vice president for sales and cargo of Etihad Aviation Group, told the media, “China continues to be a strategically important market for Etihad and resuming an additional passenger route connecting China with Abu Dhabi is a welcome development. Being granted the rights to operate the second weekly flight by the Chinese government was a huge recognition of the unrelenting joint efforts by the airline, testing institutions in the UAE, and the authorities in both countries, in the battle against Covid-19.
“Etihad is tremendously grateful for the support of the authorities, its customers and partners, and its employees in these most challenging of times, and Etihad stands ready to fly more frequently to China when possible.”
The carrier recorded losses of around $758 million during the first six months of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. It carried around 3.5 million passengers during the first half of this year compared to 8.2 million a year ago.
Last month, Etihad Airways, partnered with Verteil Technologies, a New Distribution Capability (NDC) aggregation partner, as it continues its NDC strategy launched earlier this year. Through the partnership, Etihad will aim to expand its global NDC distribution with a particular focus on India.