Etihad Airways announces A380 service to Mumbai

Etihad Airways has announced that it will start flying its super jumbo Airbus A380 to Mumbai from May 1.

The Abu Dhabi carrier currently serves London and Sydney with the A380, and is adding New York later this month and Melbourne in June.

The A380 flight, one of three daily to Mumbai, will connect with the A380 service from New York “seamlessly”, Etihad said in a statement.

It added that the A380 will add 50 per cent more seats than the Boeing 777-300ER service that it will replace.

“In 2014, nearly one million guests who travelled on Etihad Airways’ India flights began their journey from outside the country, representing almost 70 per cent of total passengers who flew to and from India with the Abu Dhabi-based airline,” Etihad said.

Last month Etihad announced it would bring forward its first scheduled A380 flight to New York “in response to strong demand”.

It will now set off for John F Kennedy Airport on November 23 rather than the initially planned December 1, therefore making it available during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which takes place between November 27 and 29.