Etihad will Start Flying Airbus A350 by March

Etihad Airways announced this week that it hopes to have its first Airbus A350 in operation by the second quarter of 2022.

According to Tony Douglas, CEO of Etihad Group, the intention to add A350s to the fleet is as follows: “We look forward to our guests being able to experience our state-of-the-art Airbus A350s when they debut later this year, taking pride of place alongside our Boeing 787s. With one of the most fuel-efficient fleets in the world and with sustainability at the very top of our agenda, we will continue to pave the way for more sustainable flying in 2022 and beyond.”

Etihad has now scheduled the Airbus A350-1000 on multiple routes, implying that the planes will be in service soon. The A350 is scheduled to fly on the following routes: Paris, Istanbul, Mumbai, Jeddah, Delhi, and Cairo.

These planes will first be flown on a regional basis by airline. That’s most likely for crew familiarization and training purposes. The A350 is deployed on long-haul routes in July and beyond.