Etihad Airways will increase its operations between its base in Abu Dhabi and Madrid. From this Winter season, the airline will grow its frequencies from seven to ten weekly. The changes were observed on this weekend’s schedule updates in Cirium’s Diio Mi application.
The new frequencies will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with the arrival back to Abu Dhabi on the following day, starting from November 21 — the current flight is daily.
| Flight | Segment | Departure (local) | Arrival (local) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EY75 | AUH-MAD | 03h15 | 08h05 | Daily (current frequency) |
| EY76 | MAD-AUH | 09h50 | 19h25 | Daily (current frequency) |
| EY71 | AUH-MAD | 14h50 | 19h40 | Tue, Thu, Sat (new frequency) |
| EY72 | MAD-AUH | 21h10 | 06h45 (+1) | Tue, Thu, Sat (new frequency) |
Flights will continue to be operated by the airline’s Boeing 787-9 with a two-class configuration, counting with 28 seats in Business class and 271 in Economy.
Seats on the new frequencies and onto connecting destinations are already available in Etihad’s sales channels, with fares in Economy starting at EUR319 one-way from Madrid — Business class fares start from EUR1944.
The current daily operation already covers an important part of Etihad’s connections Eastward. This new frequency, meanwhile, will allow more connecting options for some of the destinations that are already covered — for instance, Doha and Mumbai. Some other destinations, such as Manila, will count with faster connections in Abu Dhabi.
Etihad Airways in Spain
After the COVID-19 pandemic, which made international traffic all but collapse, this year Etihad has recovered the capacity between its hub in Abu Dhabi and Spain versus 2019 figures, according to Cirium. The airline expects to fly 448,000 seats between its hub and the European country. In terms of ASKs, capacity in 2023 will be 5.4% higher than the year before the pandemic.
Besides Madrid, the airline currently serves Barcelona with daily flights operated by the Boeing 787-10, with capacity for 32 passengers in Business and 304 in Economy. This year, it is also serving Málaga in a Summer seasonal route, which was originally planned for 2020.
Málaga is served by the two-class 787-9 twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays. In Spain, Etihad counts with a codeshare partnership with Air Europa.
