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Etihad Dreamliner forays into China with first Shanghai flight

Abu Dhabi - Etihad Airways' state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down in Shanghai from Abu Dhabi on Tuesday

Etihad Airways on Tuesday said its state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down in Shanghai from Abu Dhabi on its first flight into China.
The new Dreamliner features the airline's next-generation business and economy class cabins, and will operate with 299 seats, 28 in Business class and 271 in economy, representing a 14 per cent capacity increase on the route.
Flight EY862 from Abu Dhabi departed at 10.25pm on Monday from the Middle East arriving in Shanghai at 11.10am Tuesday. The inaugural flight from Shanghai (EY867) will depart again on August 3 at 00.30am, arriving back in Abu Dhabi at 6.15am the same day.
"Since launching flights between Shanghai and Abu Dhabi four years ago, we have experienced first-hand the huge growth of China's outbound tourism market and enjoyed strong demand from both business and leisure travellers," Peter Baumgartner, chief executive officer of Etihad Airways, said the decision to upgrade to the Boeing 787 reflects the importance of Shanghai and China to the airline.
"Shanghai is a modern metropolis and a global economic, financial, trading and shipping centre, which underlines its importance within Etihad Airways' global network and supports the introduction of the new aircraft."
He said the new Boeing 787 services will help to support the increasing demand for outbound tourism from Shanghai and its surrounding cities in Eastern China.
Shanghai is the seventh destination in the world to be served by Etihad Airways' B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with the aircraft also deployed to Perth, Brisbane, Singapore, Washington DC, Zurich and Düsseldorf.
Etihad Airways first launched a five-times-a-week two-class Airbus A330-200 services to Shanghai in March 2012. With a further 62 Boeing 787 Dreamliners scheduled for delivery over the next few years, the aircraft will become the mainstay of Etihad Airways' long-haul fleet.
- business@khaleejtimes.com