Etihad Airways plans to upgrade its Sydney to Abu Dhabi route by introducing the Airbus A350-1000 from 1 October 2025.
The A350-1000 will join the current Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on select flights, with a complete transition to the A350-1000 by 31 January 2026.
The new A350-1000 will offer 44 business class seats with enhanced privacy features and 327 economy class seats equipped with touch screen in-flight entertainment.
Etihad aims to increase overall seat availability by ten per cent and premium seat count by over 20 per cent following the full deployment of the new aircraft next year.
Arik De, Etihad’s chief revenue and commercial officer, shared “We are delighted to bring more premium travel options to Australia with the arrival of our A350 on this important route. When the schedule is fully deployed early next year, we will have grown overall seat availability by ten per cent, and premium seat count by over 20pc. This growth provides more seamless travel options to key destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and also welcomes more visitors to our home in Abu Dhabi, where they can enjoy our exclusive stopover programme, featuring one or two-night complimentary stays at a premium hotel.”
