Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will increase its services to Beirut and Amman from 18 flights per week to triple daily schedules from July 2.

The additional flights, which build on the success of the existing service, will add over 800 seats per week between Abu Dhabi and the two Arab capitals. The flights will be operated with an A320 aircraft fitted with 16 Pearl Business Class seats and 120 Coral Economy Class seats.

With the additional services, guests will now have greater flexibility to choose from conveniently timed flights when travelling between these major cities, a statement said.

The services to Beirut will improve connections via the Abu Dhabi hub to key destinations in Asia and Australia, including Manila, Sydney and Melbourne. While the new services to the Jordanian capital will improve connectivity to a number of popular destinations for Jordanian travellers including Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta and Sydney.

James Hogan, president and chief executive officer of Etihad Airways, said: “The Middle East network has been performing strongly. This increase in our services is indicative of the huge confidence we have in this important regional market.”

“We have steadily increased frequencies on both routes in line with strong demand, not only to the capital of the UAE, but also via Abu Dhabi to and from key destinations in Asia and Australia,” he added.

Etihad Airways started its operations to Beirut in November 2003, the airline’s first commercial route followed by services to the Jordanian capital Amman in December 2003 and has carried 2.1 million travellers since then on both routes. – TradeArabia News Service