Etihad to boost UAE’s China connection
ABU DHABI – Business opportunities between the UAE and China will be boosted from March 30 when Etihad begins its four-flights-per-week service to the Chinese capital from the UAE’s capital, offering a total passenger capacity of more than 2,000 seats every week.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: ‘China and the UAE are both experiencing massive economic expansion.
“There is a huge appetite from business and leisure travellers for flights to Beijing, especially ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games later this year, and our forward bookings are already ahead of our expectations.”
The UAE is home to nearly 200,000 Chinese and more than 2,000 Chinese companies.
The volume of trade between the UAE and China reached US$20.4bn in 2007, almost double the previous year’s figure.
The UAE is now China’s second largest trade partner in the Gulf region and the largest market for Chinese exports.
The value of Chinese exports to the UAE increased by 50 percent in 2007 to US$17bn.
The number of annual Chinese visitors to the UAE currently stands at 200,000 but is set to increase significantly, following the signing of a recent memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
The agreement, signed by the UAE Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his official visit to China in April 2007, aims to help schedule Chinese tourist group visits.
Beijing will be Etihad’s eighth destination in its rapidly expanding flight network in the Asia-Pacific region that already includes services to Brisbane, Sydney, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok.
Etihad’s flights to Beijing will operate every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with EY888 departing from Abu Dhabi at 11.45pm and arriving in the Chinese capital at 11.30am the next day.
Return flight EY889 departs from Beijing every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7.10pm arriving in Abu Dhabi at 00.20am the next day.
Ian Jarrett
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