Etihad Airways to deploy the Boeing 787 on all routes to China, reduces aircraft on order, will retire the last Airbus A330-300

Etihad Airways will introduce the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its daily service from Abu Dhabi to Chengdu, effective July 1, 2019, replacing the Airbus A330-200 currently operating the route. Also from July 1, the airlines’ daily service from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai will be upgraded from the 787-9 to the larger 787-10 Dreamliner.

Chengdu to be served daily with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from July 1, 2019
Shanghai to be upgraded to larger 787-10 Dreamliner from July 1, 2019

Once the changes take effect, the airline will fly all 28 weekly services to China’s four main gateways – Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hong Kong – with the next generation Dreamliner aircraft.

Above Copyright Photo: Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner A6-BLU (msn 39675) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 945709.

The 787-9 service to Chengdu will feature Etihad Airways’ next-generation Business and Economy cabins, configured with 299 seats – 28 Business Studios and 271 Economy Smart Seats. The upgrade of aircraft will also see an increase in belly-hold cargo capacity of four tonnes.

The 787-10 service to Shanghai will be configured with 336 seats – 32 Business Studios and 304 Economy Smart. Belly-hold cargo capacity will be increased by two and a half tonnes.

Etihad Airways recently celebrated 10 years of direct flights between Abu Dhabi and China, the capital-capital airlink was launched in 2008. Since 2008, the airline has carried over four and a half million passengers between Abu Dhabi and China.

Timetables: Abu Dhabi – China schedules

Flight	Origin	Departs	Desti	Arrives	Freq	Aircraft
EY 818	Abu Dhabi	08:15	Cheng du	19:40	Daily*	Boeing 787-9
EY 811	Cheng du	21:00	Abu Dhabi	00:25	Daily*	Boeing 787-9

Note: All departures and arrivals are listed in local time. *Daily operation during summer timetable, three weekly flights during winter timetable.

Flight	Origin	Departs	Desti	Arrives	Freq	Aircraft
EY 862	Abu Dhabi	21:45	Shang hai	10:35	Daily	Boeing 787-10
EY 867	Shang hai	00:45	Abu Dhabi	05:55	Daily	Boeing 787-10

Note: All departures and arrivals are listed in local time. Shanghai to be upgraded to 787-10 from July 1, 2019. Departure of 1^st 787-10 from Shanghai will be on July 3, 2019.

Flight	Origin	Departs	Desti	Arrives	Freq	Aircraft
EY 888	Abu Dhabi	21:30	Beijing	08:50	Daily	Boeing 787-10
EY 889	Beijing	01:25	Abu Dhabi	06:10	Daily	Boeing 787-10

Note: All departures and arrivals are listed in local time. Beijing upgraded to 787-10 Dreamliner on Jan 1, 2019.

Flight	Origin	Departs	Desti	Arrives	Freq	Aircraft
EY 834	Abu Dhabi	22:05	Hong Kong	10:05	Daily	Boeing 787-9
EY 833	Hong Kong	19:45	Abu Dhabi	00:05	Daily	Boeing 787-9

Note: All departures and arrivals are listed in local time. Hong Kong to be served by 787-9 Dreamliner from March 31, 2019. Departure of 1^st 787-9 from Hong Kong will be on April 1, 2019.

In other news, the airline is also reducing its aircraft on order. In a statement, the airline stated it will take delivery of five Airbus A350-1000s and 26 A321neos plus six Boeing 777-9s “over the coming years” (no specific delivery dates).

The carrier stated it will also continue to take delivery of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, but did specify the number. Etihad has so far received 28 of 71 Dreamliners it has on order.

With these fleet changes, Etihad Airways will also retire its last three remaining Airbus A330-300s in March 2019.

Below Copyright Photo: Etihad Airways Airbus A330-343 A6-AFF (msn 1245) (Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2014) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 927297.