Etihad Airways celebrates New A340-500 Diamond Zone and Visit of A380

Etihad Airways and Airbus marked a double celebration in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE on Monday, with a special VIP and media showcasing of the national airline’s new A340-500 Diamond zone, and the visit of the revolutionary Airbus 380-800 aircraft.

The Etihad branded double-decker A380, flown to the UAE for heat testing, thrilled crowds across the country with a fly-past over the other Emirates, before heading for Abu Dhabi Corniche and city centre, and finally touching down at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

As well as viewing the A380, the world’s largest and most advanced passenger aircraft, a special delegation of VIPs and media hosted by Etihad’s chairman, also enjoyed experiencing the airline’s Diamond zone suite on board one of its new A340-500 aircraft.

“To see both of these aircraft side-by-side is really testament to the ambitions of Etihad and Airbus,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan, chairman of Etihad Airways. “The A380 is set to change the future of air travel. Both the A380 and A340-500 will provide guests with premium comfort, and become the aircraft of choice for long-haul business and leisure travellers.”

The innovative Diamond zone suite sets new industry-benchmarks with a seat that rotates 180 degrees enabling Guests to dine, meet and converse with one another, in addition to the ‘air theatre’ with its 23-inch personal LCD video screen.

Passengers flying on Etihad’s recently announced route to New York will travel on the new A340-500, which is rewriting long-haul travel with its capability of flying non-stop for more than sixteen and a half thousand kilometres.

The A340-500 Pearl zone seat also reclines into a fully flat business-bed, and passengers will be able to enjoy a wealth of TV, radio and video games on the 15-inch personal LCD video screen.

After the visit to Abu Dhabi, the A380 will continue hot weather testing in Al Ain, which forms part of an overall European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification programme.

In the hot weather tests the aircraft systems including the engines, auxiliary power unit (APU), air conditioning, hydraulic and electrical systems. This is done on the ground and in flight at outside temperatures in excess of 38 degrees centigrade.

Earlier in 2005, the A380 completed extreme cold weather testing at minus 30 degrees centigrade in Iqualuit, Canada, as well as high altitude tests at 7,000 feet in Medellin, Columbia.

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