Anyone know when Etihad starts at JFK?
Senga
Anyone know when Etihad starts at JFK?
Senga
Hi Senga, it's my pleasure to reply that the new airline of my former residence and the inspiration for my screen name is coming on October 26. This is the first ever nonstop to AUH I believe, although GF used to offer a service via Bahrain in the '90s and of course Emirates is currently serving DXB up the coast 2x a day. In fact the new head of Etihad's NY office is apparently the woman who opened up NYC for EK. See below for more info. The new Diamond Zone seat looks really amazing, there are photos on airliners.net..
Etihad to fly non-stop to New York from October
17/07/2006
Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways will fly daily to Terminal 4 of New York’s JFK airport from October 26, 2006. New York, Etihad’s second North American destination after Toronto, is the airline’s 35th destination in less than three years of operations.
Flight EY503 will depart Abu Dhabi International Airport every day at 14:15 hours, arriving in New York at 21:25 hours. On the return, EY504 will depart at 23:10 hours to arrive the next day in Abu Dhabi at 20:25 hours.
Guests on the New York route will enjoy Etihad’s unique in-flight service in the new purpose-built Airbus 340-500, which brings new levels of luxury to the skies. The aircraft is configured with two aisles and can carry 240 guests — 12 in Diamond, 28 in Pearl and 200 in Coral Zone.
“The announcement of this new destination is a significant milestone for Etihad Airways. By connecting Abu Dhabi and New York, we are once again illustrating the ambitions we have at Etihad Airways to service the world’s most strategically important cities and regions,” says HH Dr. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saif Al Nahyan, Chairman of Etihad Airways.
"The US Embassy is pleased to recognise the introduction of the first Etihad Airways non-stop flight from Abu Dhabi to New York. This accomplishment represents another major step in the strong US-UAE bilateral relationship and is further proof of the strength of our ties,” says Michele J. Sison, US Ambassador to the UAE.
Etihad’s A340-500 aircraft is the first aircraft to offer the revolutionary Diamond Zone seat which can rotate 180 degrees, enabling guests to hold meetings, share group meals and converse with one another.
For guests looking to relax on the flight, each Diamond Zone Suite is fitted with a privacy shell and features a six-way movement headrest with built-in massage facility. The seat also reclines into a luxurious 6 feet 8 inch flat bed at the touch of a button.
“By flying on the new A340-500, our guests will now be able to enjoy Etihad’s unique levels of hospitality and comfort. The Diamond and Pearl Zones offer in-flight luxuries of exceptional standards whether it is fully flat beds, state-of-the-art entertainment or fine dining,” says Geert W Boven, Acting CEO, Etihad Airways.
The New York route also provides a wealth of new opportunities for Etihad’s cargo and holidays divisions, Etihad Crystal Cargo and Etihad Holidays. The A340-500 has a cargo capacity of 11 tonnes, complete with heat adjustable and air conditioned aircraft holds.
Etihad Holidays will offer guests a multitude of options which include some of New York’s best located hotels such as the Waldorf Astoria, the Hilton on Times Square and the New Yorker.
Sad thing is that the flight arrives ande departs in the dead of night :cry:
But who knows, maybe they'll pull an Emirates and start a 2x daily flight if it's succesful!
Abu Dhabi is kind of a small place comapared to Dubai with no real tourist attractions, so not sure the demand would be there for more than one flight a day. It's a government center so you can think of Abu Dhabi as Washington DC and Dubai as NYC, the nightlife and shopping place, if that makes any sense. The oil industry is more in AUH than DXB but the US is not the big market for UAE petrochemicals, they sell more into Europe and Asia. Therefore, I see the demand for the AUH flight as being from people with government business in the federal capital of the UAE (front of the plane) and visiting friends and relatives types connecting to ongoing EY flights to the subcontinent (back of the plane), which is a market already well-defined by EK but with the bonus of the legendary DXB shopping stopover. I love Abu Dhabi, lived there 2 years and I wish EY all the best but I think they are doing the JFK mainly for prestige, not because anyone is clamoring for it. These are not people who have the sort of ROI criteria that publicly-traded or bankrupt western carriers must adhere to. And if you are thinking the demand will come from the other side, even UAE nationals like to fly BA because they've been in the Gulf market for decades, the nationals have alot of Executive Club miles, and they like doing the London stopover. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, if it will be a big deal like EK or if it will sort of go away quietly after awhile like the old GF service in the '90s.
Thanks for the very useful info on Ethihad Nonstop2AUH. I'm looking forward to the airline starting here. Also I love the A345 I think its my most fav of all the new generation aircraft so I'm always happy to get more A345s.
Senga
As my late friend from LI who was my boss in AUH (and a huge aviation enthusiast, he'd have liked this site) used to say, "you're most welcome!" Glad to see the interest Senga. Hope to see some nice pix of the Abu Dhabi 'bus here, even if it is at night. If anyone here has any questions about Abu Dhabi feel free to ask me, it's not Dubai but it is a very cool place with some great people.
I'm a little surprised at their choice of JFK times. The 2125 arrival would offer connection opportunities to virtually nowhere, anyone want to speculate why these times where chosen ?
Cheers
LGA777
I don't know if aircraft availability is an issue, but I suspect they are counting on mostly point to point traffic coming westbound to NYC, for the UN or Wall St. or people just returning home to NY area from the subcontinent or whatever, with the connecting pax being the ones going out eastbound and connecting through AUH to someplace in the Middle East or South Asia.
If you want to go from AUH to someplace in the US other than NYC, BA has a good daily service leaving very late at night from AUH and with convenient morning connections at LHR to its many flights on to most major US cities - it would be hard to compete with this. I believe some other European carriers offer a similar service if not with as many connections to the US as BA, when I lived out there there was also KLM via AMS, Air France via CDG, and Lufthansa via FRA.
AUH service was cut back by some European carriers after 9/11 but like BA, whatever other services are generally late night departures with a morning arrival in Europe and a short layover to connect to the US arriving, depending on the city, in late morning or afternoon. Why fly EY to JFK and then have to go to another airline/terminal to go on to some other US city when you can go BA say AUH-LHR-ORD or AUH-LHR-LAX etc?
When do Etihad's flights to the Indian subcontinent generally depart? Those are the only really logical onward connections after a JFK-AUH leg. The East Coast-Subcontinent market is so fragmented, and since you have to stop anyway (with the exception of 500 nonstop seats into DEL), I'm wondering if EY is going to use that traffic to top up the back after hauling the high-yield point-to-point.
The schedule seems to have been developed with this in mind. To connect from the inbound arrival at 20:25, there is a bank of departures to the subcontinent between midnight and around 3am, e.g. DAC at 00:55, CMB at 01:45, KHI at 02:00, BOM at 03:05. The return of these flights to AUH arrive in time to connect to the 14:15 departure to JFK.
Nonstop2AUH I wouldm lvoe to visit the UAE for photography....Lots of nice planes to get pix of in that area (sharjah)...Id like to go but they shut down photography for the time being. I do have plenty of questions :)
Senga
also has to do with climate in the mid east...you'll find most flights in and out of that part of the world operate between the cool evening hours and early morning hours.Originally Posted by LGA777
Senga..i've still got no news on the sharjah situation
Timezones also play a factor in this, departing the Gulf late at night will get you to Europe or South Asia by local morning, in time to have most of the day in the destination. Hard to explain but if you look at the time differences and the length of the flights it makes sense.
If you go the the Gulf there's a good chance the return flight you want will leave the day after you check out of your hotel, for example the current daily BA return from AUH, BA72, departs at 0200 arriving LHR 0640 same day. But of course, you would probably be heading for the airport around midnight and certainly wouldn't need a hotel room for that night. You have to keep this in mind when booking a trip so as not to screw up the logistics!
PS for those of you who like extreme detail, the BA inbound flight BA73 departs LHR 0940 and arrives AUH at 1930. Between 1930 and 0200 the aircraft (777) goes to MCT (Muscat) and comes back to AUH thereby making these flights a nonstop service to AUH and a one-stop service to MCT. In the old days when I lived out there AUH was done one-stop via BAH (with a 767 til 777s were introduced) but the schedule was changed in part because BAH is a relatively less important business travel destination than it once was, and with higher oil prices AUH is relatively more important. At one point in the '90s AUH was also served by BA from LGW with a DC-10 that I think went on to Colombo, but this was not a daily service as was the LHR flight.
PSx2 For those interested in aviation in Abu Dhabi and the airport itself, check this out:
http://www.dcaauh.gov.ae/english/abudha ... ction.htm#
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