Etihad Airways has increased its Abu Dhabi to Manila service from four flights-a-week to daily.

The Manila flights, launched in February 2006, have been hugely successful with customers from the UAE's 200,000-strong Filipino community, as well as leisure travellers visiting the Philippines on holiday, according to a Etihad official.

'Demand regularly outstrips supply on the Abu Dhabi to Manila service, especially in the economy cabin which averages 90 per cent capacity, and therefore it is vital for the airline and our customers that we were able to increase the number of flights,' said CEO of Etihad James Hogan.

In addition to the new daily flights, Etihad has also signed a code share agreement with Philippine Airlines.

The deal will enable Etihad's customers to book and travel seamlessly from Abu Dhabi to Manila connecting on to other cities on the Philippines Airlines' network such as Cebu and Davao.

Etihad operates a two-cabin Boeing 777-300ER on the Abu Dhabi-Manila route, which is configured to carry 378 passengers, with 350 in economy class and 28 in business class.

The new daily Etihad schedule, which began on October 1, will increase the number of seats available on the route to 2,646 from 1,512 seats.Trade Arabia News Service