Etihad Airways has announced four additional flights on its Abu Dhabi–Malé network.
From a daily service, the frequency will be scaled up to 11 flights a week. The new flight operations will be effective from June 15, 2018. A two-class A320 aircraft will be operated on the route, offering 16 seats in business Class and 120 in economy.
Following this, the flag carrier of UAE will also be enhancing connectivity between Maldives and key European countries on its network.
“We are increasing frequency to 11 flights a week in order to cater to growing demand on the route, and to provide our guests with more choice of flights so that they can make the most of their stay in the Maldives,” says Peter Baumgartner, chief executive officer at Etihad Airways.
Etihad launched the route in November 2011, and since then, it has flown 5,50,000 passengers to and from the Maldives. Visitors from the UAE have increased 35 per cent over the past 12 months, while Europe continues to be the main source market for the Maldives.
Flight Schedule is as follows:
| Flight No. | Origin | Departs | Destination | Arrives | Frequency | Aircraft |
| EY 278 | Abu Dhabi | 08:40 | Malé | 14.05 | Daily | Airbus A320 |
| EY 279 | Malé | 20:35 | Abu Dhabi | 23:50 | Daily | Airbus A320 |
| EY 260* | Abu Dhabi | 00:55 | Malé | 06:20 | Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays | Airbus A320 |
| EY 261* | Malé | 18:50 | Abu Dhabi | 22:05 | Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays | Airbus A320 |
The additional flights (*) will operate every Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 15 June 2018.
Sanchita Nambiar