A new daily flight service to Vienna in Austria is being launched by Etihad Airways with the use of a two-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The new service is being introduced in order to offer greater convenience and choice for leisure and business travellers between the United Arab Emirates and Austria as well as promoting direct inbound tourism to the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, according to the airline.
The route will start to be operated by the UAE flag carrier between 22nd May and 30th June with four flights every week, after which it will increase to five flights per week from 1st September to 30th November.
The daily service will then be resumed from 1st December.
The outbound flight will be a red-eye that will leave Abu Dhabi International Airport at 2:55am and arrive in Vienna at 7:00am.
The return leg is set to leave Vienna at 11:45am and arrive back in the emirate at 7:10pm.
The departures have been timed for convenience so that they arrive in Vienna in the early morning, according to the airline, as well as to offer seamless connections in either direction through Abu Dhabi to various gateways in the Etihad network.
These include countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Australia and Southeast Asia.
The aircraft being used by Etihad features as many as 290 seats, including 262 seats in economy class and 28 in business class.
Vienna is Abu Dhabi’s largest unserved market, and the announcement of the new route sees the airline’s European passenger destinations increase to 22, says Etihad Aviation Group’s chief commercial officer Robin Kamark.
Austria is a vital partner in terms of tourism and trade for the UAE, and the new flights will allow the airline to take full advantage of the growing demand for business and leisure travel between the two nations, Kamark believes.
There is strong trade between Austria and the UAE, with around 180 Austrian businesses operating in the latter.
Tourism is on the rise in both directions, with UAE nationals increasingly favouring Austria as a popular destination all year round.
The historic culture, internationally renowned ski resorts and beautiful scenery in Austria are attracting more and more Emirati tourists, and Vienna has been voted as the most liveable city in the world on a number of occasions.
Etihad Airways is thrilled to be creating a direct service between the two capital cities just in time for summer, Kamark adds.
The carrier just recently became part of the Worldwide by easyJet connections service, which enables customers to use the easyJet website to book tickets for flights between as many as 68 cities in Europe and the UAE capital via 10 airports in Europe.
Anyone who is flying from the UAE to Vienna or anywhere else should take out travel insurance in order to ensure that they are financially protected from the consequences of unexpected events such as losing their luggage of falling ill while away from home.
