Etihad has updated its flight schedules to show that the Airbus A380 will return to long-haul service on July 15th, 2023. The airline will operate a daily rotation in July, rising to double daily as August starts. Flights are currently scheduled to remain double daily until the end of November.
Two weeks ago, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad revealed that it would bring the Airbus A380 back to service in the summer of 2023. At the time, the airline announced that the aircraft would exclusively fly between its Abu Dhabi home and London Heathrow. Thanks to updated schedule filings, we now know exactly when the aircraft is set to return.
Back in July
Throughout the pandemic, Etihad's then-CEO, Tony Douglas, always said, "never say never" when asked if the Airbus A380 would return to the skies. This led to rumors that the aircraft would return to the skies one day. Etihad finally became the tenth carrier to commit to the aircraft's return earlier in December.
According to the latest schedule updates published by Cirium, Etihad's re-inaugural Airbus A380 flight is scheduled to take place on July 15th as follows,
|
Flight Number |
Dep Airport |
Dep Time |
Arr Airport |
Arr Time |
Flight Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
EY 11 |
Abu Dhabi (AUH) |
02:05 |
London Heathrow (LHR) |
06:45 |
07h40m |
|
EY 12 |
London Heathrow (LHR) |
09:30 |
Abu Dhabi (AUH) |
19:40 |
07h10m |
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Tickets for the first flight are already on sale on Etihad's website, with the Airbus A380 shown as the aircraft operating the flight. At the time of writing, the cheapest one-way fares in each cabin were as follows,
- Economy - 2,150 AED ($585.46)
- Business - 12,620 AED ($3,436.54)
- First class 29,660 AED ($8,076.68)
- For the time being, it seems as though it is not possible to book tickets for The Residence, the private suite onboard the Airbus A380.
EY 11 and 12 will continue operating throughout July. In August, they will be joined by a second rotation operating as follows,
|
Flight Number |
Dep Airport |
Dep Time |
Arr Airport |
Arr Time |
Flight Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
EY 19 |
Abu Dhabi (AUH) |
08:30 |
London Heathrow (LHR) |
13:05 |
07h35m |
|
EY 20 |
London Heathrow (LHR) |
14:50 |
Abu Dhabi (AUH) |
00:55+1 |
07h05m |
4 Airbus A380s returning
Etihad is set to remove four Airbus A380s from storage, exclusively for London flights. Given the intended destination, we're hoping that the A380s with the special "Choose The United Kingdom" livery (A6-APC & A6-APE) will be one of the aircraft returning to service.
Today, all of the airline's A380s are in storage with Tarmac Aerosave as follows (according to data from ch-aviation.com and FlightRadar24.com),
|
Aircraft |
MSN |
Location |
Age |
Flown to storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A6-APA |
166 |
Tarbes, France (LDE) |
8.52 |
November 5th, 2020 |
|
A6-APB |
170 |
Tarbes, France (LDE) |
8.26 |
December 3rd, 2020 |
|
A6-APC |
176 |
Tarbes, France (LDE) |
8.07 |
December 16th, 2020 |
|
A6-APD |
180 |
Teruel, Spain (TEV) |
7.90 |
May 11th, 2021 |
|
A6-APE |
191 |
Teruel, Spain (TEV) |
7.59 |
June 15th, 2021 |
|
A6-APF |
195 |
Teruel, Spain (TEV) |
7.19 |
May 28th, 2021 |
|
A6-APG |
198 |
Teruel, Spain (TEV) |
7.12 |
April 19th, 2021 |
|
A6-APH |
199 |
Teruel, Spain (TEV) |
7.00 |
June 23rd, 2021 |
|
A6-API |
233 |
Tarbes, Spain (LDE) |
6.16 |
January 26th, 2021 |
|
A6-APJ |
237 |
Teruel, Spain (TEV) |
5.96 |
April 26th, 2021 |
Are you excited to see Etihad's Airbus A380s back on the schedule? Let us know what you think and why in the comments below by clicking the blue button!
Sources: ch-aviation, Cirium, FlightRadar24.com
-
Etihad Airways
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- EY/ETD
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Abu Dhabi International Airport
- Year Founded:
- 2003
- CEO:
- Tony Douglas
- Country:
- United Arab Emirates
