Etihad Airways to fly to South Africa from December 2005

The news comes just weeks before the Abu Dhabi-based aviation group is set to take delivery of new, long-range, wide body aircraft that will ideally position the ambitious Etihad Airways organization to take full advantage of the expanding business, holiday, and cargo traffic to the African continent.

"Etihad Airways is determined to challenge the traditional ways of the aviation industry and take a fresh look at how best we can serve our valued guests, as well as our cargo business customers," said Nick Howarth, Head of Corporate Planning and Strategy, Etihad Airways.

"By listening closer to the wishes of our guests and business partners, we realized that Eastern and Asian markets show strong demand for a regional carrier which can take them into the South African market for business and holiday, but do it differently, put the customers first and really focus on making luxury and ease-of-travel a priority."

The South African embassy in Abu Dhabi has recently reported that South Africa's exports to the UAE have increased from USD 251 million in (AED 923 million) in 2002 to USD 410.5 million (AED 1,506.5 million) in 2004. Exports during the first quarter of 2005 stand at USD 120.7 million (AED 443.3 million).

"South Africa enjoys a strong and growing economic relationship with the UAE, and we applaud Etihad Airway's prudent decision to begin passenger and cargo flights to Johannesburg, one of our largest cities and centre of our commercial enterprise, but we also welcome the region's growing base of holiday makers. The total number of business and holiday travelers who spend a minimum of 48 hours in the UAE has far surpassed the 40,000 persons mark annually," said H.E. Dikang Moopeloa, South African Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

"And with more than 5,000 active South African nationals in the UAE alone, the announcement of an additional, premium air carrier regularly servicing our home country is good news for all of us."

The Business Case for Entering the South African Market

Etihad Airways, a company committed to profitability across all lines of its business operations, has identified several key reasons behind its decision to launch the twice-weekly, direct flights to Johannesburg, chief among them being the economic upturn South Africa has seen over the last several years.

With sound fiscal and monetary policy at the heart of its jobs creation program, South Africa has rapidly become one of the UAE's leading trading partners, quickly joining the ranks of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, India, and Singapore.

"Trade volumes are increasing between the Gulf and the African continent, and Etihad's Crystal Cargo is set to take on a considerable portion of the world's growing air cargo volume. We have the facilities and necessary network infrastructure to expand our service offering to customers from China and the Indian subcontinent to Johannesburg and African points beyond," said Ingo Roessler, Vice President for Cargo, Etihad Airways' Crystal Cargo.

South Africa as Holiday Destination

Africa's largest economy is also home to some of the most popular holidaymaking destinations available anywhere in the world. From Cape Town's instantly-recognizable Table Mountain to the Garden Route which lines the country's southern coast to the home of the African safari, Kruger National Park, in the east, South Africa has something to offer every Gulf-based discerning leisure traveler.

"South Africa is rich with holiday opportunities for every lifestyle; it's got something for families, couples, and singles looking for short-breaks, golf, diving, fly-drive, you name it," said Nick Wood, General Manager, Etihad Holidays.

"We expect that a substantial number of Etihad guests flying to Johannesburg will be doing so en route to holiday destinations that our team has tailored for them. Already, we are in discussion with the leading resort and safari destination properties in the country, and anticipate that we will be forging long term relationships with them that will ensure that our guests receive the best service from start to finish."

Etihad will fly from nonstop from Abu Dhabi to Johannesburg (EY 603) at 0045 and from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi (EY 604) at 0950 each Thursday and Saturday.

Guests will fly on a luxuriously appointed Airbus A340-300 configured to host 10 Diamond guests, 30 Pearl guests, and 225 Coral guests.