Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) will significantly boost its schedule from Abu Dhabi International to London Heathrow by the end of the second quarter of 2019, adding two more daily flights on top of the existing three. The new services will use slots previously leased by Etihad to Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International).
According to the carrier's booking engine, the fourth daily rotation between Abu Dhabi and Heathrow will launch on May 26 and the fifth on June 23. The two new flights will operate onboard B787-9s. Currently, Etihad Airways serves Heathrow 3x daily using exclusively A380-800s.
The Emirati carrier used to lease three daily slot pairs at Heathrow to Jet Airways, in which it owns a 24% stake. When the Indian carrier grounded all flights in mid-April, Etihad retrieved the slots. Besides the two slot pairs it will use itself, it also leased the third slot pair to Air Serbia (JU, Belgrade), in which it owns a 49% stake.
British Airways currently operates 5x weekly between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi.
Etihad's local rival Emirates (EK, Dubai International) flies 31x weekly from Dubai International to Heathrow, 14x weekly to London Gatwick, and 4x weekly to London Stansted.
