Etihad Airways, the national carrier for the United Arab Emirates has increased services from Amman, Jordan to Abu Dhabi, UAE. Flight EY 514 departs Queen Alia International Airport in the late morning, while flight EY 516 departs QAIA for Abu Dhabi in the afternoon. Return flight EY 513 departs from Abu Dhabi to Amman in the morning and flight EY 515 operates in the early afternoon. All flights are operated on a daily basis.
The expansion is part of increased seasonal flying program where the airline will operate 900 flights per week compared to 750 a year earlier, connecting a total of 55 cities. Currently Etihad has a fleet of 44 narrow and wide-bodied aircraft which will grow to 52 by the end of 2009.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive said “The 2009 summer schedule will see further expansion from Etihad with our summer flying program 20 percent larger than last year’s. The highlights of the new flight schedule are undoubtedly our five new destinations in America, Australia and Europe, but our customers can also look forward to added depth and significantly improved connections across our network as we add additional frequencies on key routes, like Amman, Jordan.”
When asked about the recent additions to the flight schedule at Queen Alia International Airport, Mr. Curtis Grad, Chief Executive Officer at Airport International Group said. “The decision of Etihad Airways to add more frequency to Amman is another strong sign of the airport’s emerging role as an important regional feed into the global hub airports in the Gulf, as well as Europe.”
Mr. Grad added “Our entire team would also like to congratulate Etihad Airways on their achievement in winning the ‘Best Business Class in the World’ and the ‘Best Business Class Catering’ categories at the annual World Airlines Awards ceremonies in Hamburg, Germany earlier this week.”
The rehabilitation and expansion works at QAIA are well underway with the new passenger terminal extending over 85,000 square meters. AIG, under the terms of a 25-year concession agreement with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is responsible for the operation of the airport, the rehabilitation of existing facilities and the construction of the new terminal.
AIG is a Jordanian company with private shareholding by Abu Dhabi Investment Company (UAE), Noor Financial Investment Company (Kuwait), Edgo Group (Jordan), Joannou & Paraskevaides (Overseas) Limited (Cyprus), J&P-Avax (Greece) and Aéroports de Paris Management (France).
