Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will launch daily non-stop flights to Zurich, Switzerland from 01Jun14.
Through Zurich, the daily flight will connect with the route network of Etihad Airways’ latest equity partner, Darwin Airline, which will be rebranded Etihad Regional.
Darwin Airline will provide connections between Zurich and eight new destinations–Leipzig, Florence, Graz, Linz, Lyon, Turin and Verona, as well as a new domestic service to Geneva. The airline already operates domestic services between Geneva and Lugano.
Subject to regulatory approvals, Zurich will become Etihad Airways’ second Swiss destination after Geneva, and the route will be served by an Airbus A330-300 aircraft in a three-class configuration. The aircraft will be configured with 8 seats in Diamond First Class, 32 in Pearl Business Class and 191 in Coral Economy Class.
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland, a major financial centre, business hub and tourism destination, and has a catchment area of two million people.
Demand for the new Etihad Airways Zurich service is forecast to be strong among the Swiss community in the UAE, which numbers more than 2,400 Swiss nationals and 300 Swiss companies.
A key benefit to travellers of the non-stop Abu Dhabi-Zurich service will be convenient flight arrival and departure times and network connectivity at each end.
