Etihad vuole crescere in Asia (KUL e SIN)

[skyrobbie]

Etihad to up Asia flights, cuts Emirates' market share

by Gemma Greenwood on Thursday, 13 December 2007

da arabian business

Etihad Airways is looking to up frequencies to two of its newer destinations Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL), Arabian Travel News can reveal.

Not only that, but the sales managers in each of these countries claim travellers have been wowed by the carrier's product, with many Emirates airline passengers now switching to Etihad.

"Load factors from Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi currently range from 70% to 80%, with business class always running at full capacity. I have already increased fares twice this year [since the January 16 launch] because the demand is so strong," explained Etihad KL-based sales manager Kathleen Leong.


"I guess a lot of people have switched from Emirates to Etihad and somewhere down the line we could see a double daily service on this route. There are not many true flatbeds out of KL, so that's where we compete."

Leong said even though Emirates, her former employer in KL, operated 13 flights weekly to Dubai, there was enough demand to support more frequencies to the UAE, with many clients using the Middle East as a stopover on their way to Europe.

Her colleague in Singapore, Etihad country manager Michael Tan, reported a similar story.

Having launched the three times weekly Abu Dhabi-Singapore service on September 28, just three days after the Abu Dhabi-Singapore Business Forum (ADSBF) met to forge greater links between the two cities, the route is already witnessing load factors of between 60% and 65%.

The flight then travels to Brisbane in Australia, average load factors for which are hovering between 70% to 75%, with next week's Eid and Christmas period expected to generated loads near full capacity.

"We are getting a good mix of business and leisure traffic - around 50/50," said Tan, former Singapore country manager for British Airways, who noted that the Asian market had been impressed with Etihad's "superior product".

"The name precedes itself; everyone knows about the quality of the airline," he said. "Pearl Zone seats [in business class] are in high demand because of the awareness of how good the product is. We are seeing a lot of new guests try it out, because it's different."

Tan said the plan, in line with Etihad's strategy to operate point to point services, was to run Singapore and Brisbane as separate services and to up frequencies and capacity.

"We have already switched to a Boeing 777 to keep pace with demand," he said.

Etihad already operates services to Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta and will introduce a four times weekly service to Beijing from March 30, in time for the Beijing Olympic Games next summer.

This marks the airline's first foray into the Chinese market where rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways have already made their mark.