Fast-growing Etihad Airways will place into service its first narrowbody aircraft in September in an effort to bolster its regional network.
The Abu Dhabi-based carrier, which currently only operates an all-widebody fleet consisting of 23 aircraft, has committed to leasing six Airbus A320s. It says the first will be delivered in early September from US firm KJ Aviation and will be used to replace widebodies on the Abu Dhabi-Tehran route.
Another two A320s will be leased from Air Malta and placed into service in October. Etihad says it will add three more A320s early next year and use the new aircraft type on existing routes to: Beirut, Muscat, Cairo, Kuwait, Doha, Bahrain, Dammam, Amman, Damascus and Karachi.
The A320s, to be configured with 20 business class and 120 economy class seats, will free up widebodies for new medium and long-haul routes. Etihad will launch A330 flights to Kathmandu in Nepal later this year and is looking to begin service to China next year. It is also increasing services on some of its Indian routes, which will continue to be served by widebodies.
Source: Airline Business
