Jet Airways suspended operations from April 17, 2019. In light of this, three slots at London Heathrow were transferred back to Etihad Airways. Air India looked at the possibility of taking over 5 Jet Airways 777-300ER and add flights to London Heathrow.

If Air India had managed to get slots from Etihad, this would have been a win-win for both Etihad Airways and Air India. But Jet Airways 777s needed maintenance and Air India, which already has 4 of their 777s and other aircraft grounded for lack of maintenance, didn’t want to spend money on them.

So Etihad Airways was left with no other option but added flights to protect the precious London Heathrow slots. Etihad Airways has transferred one pair of slots to Air Serbia, an airline in which they hold a stake. Air Serbia added a daily Belgrade – London Heathrow flight using those slots.

Etihad London to Abu Dhabi new flights

Etihad Airways will add 2x daily more flights using the extra slots at London Heathrow in a phased manner. Currently, Etihad Airways operates three daily A380 flights on Abu Dhabi – London Heathrow route.

From May 23, 2019, Etihad Airways will increase the frequency on Abu Dhabi – London Heathrow route to 4x daily. Etihad Airways will temporarily suspend EY 11/12 (A380) frequency and instead replace it with EY 9/10 (A380) frequency. Additional Etihad Airways will also add another daily frequency using a 787-9 EY 25/26.

EY09 AUH0210 – 0645LHR 380 D
EY25 AUH1315 – 1755LHR 789 D

EY10 LHR0930 – 1950AUH 380 D
EY26 LHR2120 – 030(+1 day)AUH 789 D

From June 23, 2019, Etihad Airways will resume EY 11/12 with an A380 taking the total frequencies on Abu Dhabi – London Heathrow route to 5x daily.

EY09 AUH0210 – 0645LHR 789 D
EY11 AUH0250 – 0730LHR 380 D
EY19 AUH0810 – 1250LHR 380 D
EY25 AUH1315 – 1755LHR 789 D
EY17 AUH1405 – 1845LHR 380 D

EY10 LHR0930 – 1950AUH 789 D
EY12 LHR0935 – 1955AUH 380 D
EY20 LHR1505 – 0110(+1day)AUH 380 D
EY18 AUH2045 – 0655(+1 day)LHR 380 D
EY26 LHR2120 – 030(+1 day)AUH 789 D

Etihad will deploy a 2 class 787-9 on the new frequencies. The introduction of 2x more daily flights in a phased manner and using smaller widebodies will help Etihad Airways.

Etihad Airways temporarily operated 4x daily flights in April 2019. So they might not have a problem somewhat filling up 4x daily flights. But 5x daily flights may be a problem for Etihad Airways. Also, EY 09/10 and EY 11/12 are operating within some time of each other. So are EY 25/26 and EY 17/18. But you got to do what you got to do to protect those London Heathrow slots. Also, I think it should help that the Cricket World Cup is around the corner and UK is hosting the cup this time around.

Etihad Airways is struggling financially, with a USD 4.8 billion dollar loss on their books, and are doing their best to control costs. This is also reflecting on the soft product they are offering. Etihad Airways recently introduced an updated catering for Economy class which was mostly cost-cutting. Will you prefer to travel on the A380 or the 787-9, considering both have the same ticket price? Let see how this works out for Etihad Airways in the long run.

Will you book Etihad Airways’ new flights to London Heathrow? I hope to see many sales soon!