Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is celebrating 15 years in Australia since it first launched flights connecting the country with its favourite destinations across the world.
Etihad launched daily flights between the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, and Sydney on March 27, 2007, and later that year launched flights to Brisbane, followed by Melbourne in 2009 and Perth in 2014.
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At its peak, Etihad was operating 42 weekly flights between Australia and Abu Dhabi, before the airline was forced to reduce operations in the country due to the pandemic.
The airline now operates daily operations to Melbourne and Sydney providing a mix of morning and evening departures with connectivity to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Tony Douglas, (above) Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Etihad has built a strong cultural connection with Australia over the years, tied to the community through our patronage of the arts, elite sports and landmarks. We held the naming rights for Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium for 10 years and continue to be the main shirt sponsor for Melbourne City Football Club. We were also a proud partner of the Australian Sports Hall of Fame for a long time. We embraced the arts, partnering with Australia Fashion Week and the Fashion Laureate, and did some amazing work with the Sydney Opera House for a number of years, helping to share Australia’s cultural icons across the globe.
“To date, we have carried over 9.5 million passengers to and from Australia, connecting Aussies with the world via our home Abu Dhabi.”
Throughout the pandemic Etihad continued to serve Australia’s needs despite significant restrictions, helping to keep families connected, repatriating Australians stranded abroad, and maintaining the critical trade imports & exports vital for Australia’s economy.
Etihad’s partnership with Austrade provided dedicated cargo services between Abu Dhabi and Australia to deliver essential supplies into the Australian market and facilitated bi-directional trade to ensure continuity of fresh exports from Australia including meat, fish and seafood, fruits, and vegetables.
The airline played a humanitarian role throughout the pandemic, sending medical supplies and aid throughout 2020, and as part of the Hope Consortium distributing vaccines throughout 2021. Etihad also played a significant role in the aftermath of the Afghanistan crisis, helping repatriate evacuees across the world, including to Australia.
The UAE is Australia’s largest trade and investment partner in the region, and the airline’s milestone coincides with the start of bilateral trade talks between the UAE and Australia to establish a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries, which would be the first for Australia in the GCC.
Continuing to facilitate and support Australian global trade, Etihad has increased cargo capacity to 225 tonnes each week between Abu Dhabi and Australia. Over the past decade, Etihad has carried more than 430,000 tonnes of cargo to and from Australia.
Etihad is also a long-established codeshare partner of Virgin Australia, providing travellers from across the country access to Etihad’s global network, and visitors to Australia connectivity to over 80 routes on Virgin Australia’s growing domestic network on a single ticket.
Since 2010, Etihad Guest and Velocity Frequent Flyer have provided members with reciprocal access to each other’s networks and member benefits, allowing Velocity Members to earn Etihad Guest benefits, and vice versa, including bonus points of up to 100% or the redemption of free flights.
Etihad Guest is celebrating the 15th anniversary alongside the opening of international borders this weekend, with an entire specially-chartered 787 Dreamliner flying over 100 Etihad Guest members and their lucky plus-ones for an exclusive trip of a lifetime to Etihad’s home, Abu Dhabi.
