Etihad Airways, will add more seats between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne by introducing a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to the route.

The larger seating capacity aircraft, will start operating from December 1, having 328 seats in a three-class configuration - 36 more than the Airbus A340-600 aircraft which is currently flying the Abu Dhabi-Melbourne sector.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ president and chief executive officer, said: “Etihad Airways’ Melbourne–Abu Dhabi flights are some of the strongest performers in our network – this year load factors between the two cities have averaged more than 80 per cent.

“Switching to the Boeing 777 gives us 12 per cent more seats overall and 25 per cent more in business class. This will enable us to increase our share of the corporate and leisure travel market between Australia and Abu Dhabi and beyond to our worldwide network.
 
“The Boeing 777 offers a bellyhold cargo capacity of around 14-16 tonnes which allows us to capitalise on Australia’s strong trading relationship with the United Arab Emirates.

“The United Arab Emirates is Australia’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and, last year, two-way merchandise trade between Australia and the UAE was worth around $5.13 billion.”

The three-class Boeing 777-300ER has eight seats in first class, 40 in business class, and 280 in economy class.

Etihad Airways launched flight service between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne in 2009.