Etihad Airways is to suspend its service from its Abu Dhabi hub to Perth in Australia. The route, popular with the Irish holiday, workers’ and VFR markets, will be axed effective from October 1 next.
The UAE airline said the decision is “part of an ongoing review of our network performance”.
It added that “along with our travel agency partners, we will work closely with impacted guests to notify them of the changes to their itineraries and re-accommodate them on alternative flights”.
Boeing is 100 years old.
Etihad said that “the cancellation of the Perth route is one of several adjustments that we are making to our network in 2018 to improve system profitability”.
It informed Irish agents: “Etihad Airways is offering the following options for guests who have purchased tickets on/before 10 April 2018 for travel on/after 1 October 2018:
“Re-booking / Re-routing: For partially used / fully unused tickets, re-booking / re-routing permitted on VA via SYD / MEL only. Guests can also be re-booked to an alternate EY gateway within the same region should they prefer that option. Re-booking must be made on the lowest available RBD in the same cabin. Any date change fee as well as fare difference arising from re-routing /re-booking is waived for this one instance only. Re-routing and endorsement onto any other airlines, other than mentioned in this policy is not permitted.
“Cancellation / Refund Refund is permitted free of charge whether the ticket is wholly unutilised or partially utilised as long as there are travel segments on / after 1 October 2018 which are impacted by this cancellation.Refund on partially utilised ticket must be calculated based upon pro-rata mileage flown.Guests may contact their travel agent through whom the original ticket was purchased to process the refund.Please ensure the PNR is updated with the remark “CW159 Invol change due PER flight xxl”.
Etihad Airways said it “is committed to the Australian market and continues to offer regular schedules to its key gateways across Australia through Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, all of which are major markets for the airline”.
