Etihad Airways Launches Daily Flights to Edinburgh, Scotland

Etihad Airways has launched daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edinburgh is the airline’s first destination in Scotland, and its third in the UK, alongside a triple-daily service to London Heathrow and double-daily flights to Manchester.

The new flight is operated by a two-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft, with 22 seats in Business Class and 240 in Economy Class. It will connect seamlessly to destinations in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Indian Sub-Continent.

“Scotland is the natural next step on our growth trajectory in the UK, with strong tourism and business traffic in both directions. We have been impressed by the welcome we have received from Edinburgh Airport and from the Scottish tourism industry. Many local stakeholders have played a part in attracting us to the city and welcoming us here, and we’re confident this service will be a great success,” said Peter Baumgartner, Chief Commercial Officer for Etihad Airways. “It’s not all about Edinburgh either, as we know there’s a strong demand across the central belt and further afield, not least from Aberdeen-based business travellers, for long-haul services ... With more than 110 direct destinations – and hundreds more through our partners – we can connect Scottish travellers wherever they need to go, for business or for leisure. Additionally, for Scottish trade and tourism, we will be able to bring in leisure and business visitors from many of these destinations.”

From a business and trade perspective, the UAE is already a primary trade partner for Scotland in the Middle East region. According to figures released at the end of 2014 by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, bilateral trade between the UAE and UK reached more than £12.36 billion in 2013.

For leisure customers, Edinburgh is a significant tourist draw. The city is the UK’s largest tourism market outside London, with more than one million arrivals from overseas each year.

Scottish Enterprise figures show that the Middle East is the second largest international market for Scottish oil and gas exports, valued at £2 billion, so areas across Scotland such as Aberdeen will be a target for the new service. The aircraft will offer a 168-tonne cargo capacity per week in both directions, with oil and gas equipment expected to be transported to destinations served by the airline’s cargo division in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and regions in Africa.

The cargo service also supports Edinburgh’s position as the fourth largest finance centre in Europe and a global hub for scientific research, food and drink, oil and gas, and chemical industries. Food exports from Scotland were worth a record £1.1 billion in 2014, with a surge in fish and seafood sales for markets in Asia such as China and Hong Kong, served by Etihad Airways.