Tag Archives: Sydney

Australia is a key and highly valued market in the global network of Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, with the three largest cities, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all served daily. In response to the country’s devastating bushfires, Etihad Airways will waive flight change fees for Australian residents affected by this ongoing national emergency. The waivers will apply for travel to or from Australia. UAE-based Australians, or those in Australia seeking changes to their Etihad flights as a result of the fire emergency, should contact Etihad Guest Services in the UAE. In addition to passenger fee waivers, the airline will also work in partnership with Emirates Red Crescent to raise funds within the UAE to help support bushfire relief. As part of its international workforce, Etihad is the proud employer of more than 300 Australian nationals outside Australia, who, with their families, number more than 1,000. Most reside in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, where the airline is based.  In total, some 16,000 Australian nationals live and work in the UAE.

Emirates will commence a fourth daily service from Dubai to Sydney, Australia, on its iconic A380 aircraft from March 25, 2018. The new daily service will complement Emirate’s existing three daily A380 services and improve connections globally. The move will provide passengers travelling from Europe and North Africa greater connectivity to Australia. It also builds on Emirates’ partnership with Qantas, meeting continued demand for services to Dubai and complementing Qantas’ re-routing of its current Sydney to London service via Singapore (instead of Dubai). Emirates’ new service will offer passengers an afternoon departure from Sydney and a convenient arrival in main European cities the following morning. It also introduces a new option for passengers to depart London and main European cities in the morning with an afternoon arrival in Sydney the next day with a short connection in Dubai. Between March 25 -30, 2018, the inbound service EK416 will depart Dubai at 20:40 hours, arriving in Sydney at 17:20 hours, the following day. Due to daylight savings from March 31, 2018, the arrival time changes to 16:30 hours, the following day. Between March 26-31, 2018, the outbound service EK417 will depart Sydney at 17:05 hours, arriving in Dubai at 00:25 hours the following day. Due to daylight savings from April 1, the outbound service EK417 will depart Sydney 16:15 hours, arriving the same time the following day. All services will be operated by an A380 aircraft. The A380 aircraft offers 489 seats in a three-class cabin configuration with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 399 spacious seats in Economy.

Etihad Airways will add three weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Sydney to operate a double-daily schedule from February 6, 2017. The morning departure from Abu Dhabi – EY450 – and the afternoon departure from Sydney – EY451 – will increase from four to seven flights per week. This enhancement to the airline’s Sydney schedule comes with the move by strategic partner Virgin Australia to shift its Australia to Abu Dhabi operation from Sydney to Perth from June 9, 2017. Expanding the code-share agreement, Etihad Airways will add its EY code to Virgin Australia’s new three weekly Perth-Abu Dhabi flights. The combined impact of the additional Sydney capacity and new code-share with Virgin Australia is an increase in the UAE flag carrier’s Australian footprint from a total of 42 to 45 weekly flights. To maintain schedule continuity, Etihad Airways will operate its three new weekly Sydney services at the same timings as Virgin Australia’s current Sydney-Abu Dhabi flights, on which Etihad Airways has placed its EY code since they began in February 2011. Among the new two-way connected markets for Perth are Athens, Beirut, Geneva, Istanbul, and a number of African destinations including Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Khartoum and Nairobi. The additional Sydney flights will be operated by a three-class Boeing 777-300ER, the aircraft type operating the current EY450/451 pattern. The aircraft is configured with eight seats in First Class, 40 in Business Class and 280 in Economy Class.