Abu Dhabi’s Etihad to start Barcelona flights

Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways has announced plans to begin a new service to Barcelona from November.

A two-class Airbus A330-200 will operate the route five times a week from November 21 before it becomes daily on March 31 next year.

Barcelona will be the second city in Spain served by Etihad after Madrid.

“As one of the largest unserved markets from our Abu Dhabi base, Barcelona – a hub of culture, commerce, tourism, education, fashion and science, has witnessed a significant increase in travel demand from the emirate, and from across our wider network,” said Etihad Airways CEO Peter Baumgartner.

The new route is a rare addition for Etihad amid a wider review that has seen it suspend flights to locations including the Scottish capital Edinburgh and Australia’s Perth.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s Etihad to suspend flights to Edinburgh, Perth

The airline said in February it was pulling five Boeing 777-200LR passenger jets from its fleet after deciding last year to drop some flights that the aircraft were used on. These included flights to San Francisco and Dallas Fort Worth it suspended in October and March respectively.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s Etihad phases out 5 Boeing 777-200LRs

Sources told Gulf Business in January that the airline was preparing to cut up to 10 per cent of pilots to cut costs after posting a $1.87bn loss in 2016.

Etihad denied the figure but said it had asked pilots to take voluntary unpaid leave.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s Etihad denies plans to cut 10% of pilots

EY49 will leave Abu Dhabi at 2:20am and arrive in Barcelona at 6:45am on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Return flight EY50 will leave Barcelona at 9:50am and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 8:00pm on the same days.

Etihad has a codeshare partnership with Air Europa for onward flights to other European cities.