Etihad Airways has announced the year-round deployment of its Airbus A380 aircraft on the Abu Dhabi to Paris route. The world's largest passenger jet - equipped with a three-bedroom suite - will operate from July 1 on one of its twice-daily services from the UAE's capital city to Paris. The additional capacity will provide business and leisure travelers from France more opportunities to visit Abu Dhabi, the airline said.
Paris becomes the airline's latest A380 long-haul destination following London, Sydney, New York and Melbourne. With the 496-seat aircraft upgrade from a 328-seat Boeing 777, Etihad Airways will offer an all-A380 daily service from Paris to both Melbourne and Sydney via the airline's Abu Dhabi home base.
The additional capacity will also support the connecting traffic to and from cities across Asia and Australia from Abu Dhabi including, Brisbane, Perth, Bangkok, Chengdu, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Manila, Shanghai, Seychelles, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.
Flight EY31 has a scheduled departure time from Abu Dhabi at 2:15 A.M. which arrives at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport at 7.50 A.M. local time. The return flight, EY32 takes off from the Paris at 10:40 A.M. and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 7.30 P.M.
Etihad Airways' A380 offers a total capacity of 496 seats - up to two 'The Residence', nine in first class, 70 in business class and 415 in the economy cabin. The Residence is an ultra-private, three-bedroom suite with a living room, bedroom with a double-bed, separate en-suite shower room and dedicated personal butler. The cabin also comes with a private chef ready to custom-create menus to order. The nine first-class apartments each have a flat-screen television, a chilled mini-bar, personal vanity unit, wardrobe and a fully-equipped shower room. Additionally, the 70-configured business studios are located on the upper deck of the A380 and all offer direct aisle access and a fully flat bed. In the economy cabin, there are 415 seats which offer fixed-wing headsets, lumbar support and an 11-inch personal, high-definition monitor screen.
For families flying with young children, Etihad Airways A380 has a 'flying nanny' trained by the Norland College in the UK. The 'flying nanny' is onbard every flight to provide childcare support.
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