As you'll probably know, Etihad Airways is bringing back the Airbus A380. But in a new twist, the Abu Dhabi-based airline has revealed that the sole route it'll be deployed on – London Heathrow – will have triple daily A380 flights later this year, up from the previously scheduled double daily.

Etihad A380s to Heathrow

Etihad has previously indicated that it plans to reactive four A380s for use this summer. According to Cirium information and reflected in the airline's booking engine, it'll deploy the double-decker quadjet daily to Heathrow on July 15th before becoming double daily on August 1st. It will now rise to triple daily A380 from October 1st – and is bookable. Of course, October is a long way off, and things may change, but that is the situation as of February 9th.

Etihad's A380s have the same 498-seat configuration. There are two The Residence suites, nine first-class apartments, 70 business seats, and 417 economy seats. It'll return to being Etihad's largest type, with only one configuration of 777-300ER – a two-class layout with 402 seats – coming anywhere near close.

Click here for Heathrow-Abu Dhabi flights.

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The plan

The schedule for October 1st is as follows, with all times local. I have also stated the dates on which particular flights shift from other widebodies to the A380. When the triple daily A380 service is operational, Etihad will have reverted to the same offer it last had in early 2020.

• Abu Dhabi to Heathrow: EY11, 02:05-06:45; daily A380 ← A380 from Jul 15th
• Abu Dhabi to Heathrow: EY19, 08:10-12:50; daily A380 ← A380 from Aug 1st
• Abu Dhabi to Heathrow: EY25, 10:45-15:10; daily 787-9
• Abu Dhabi to Heathrow: EY17, 14:05-18:45; daily A380 ← A380 from Oct 1st
• Heathrow to Abu Dhabi: EY12, 09:30-19:35; daily A380 ← A380 from Jul 15th
• Heathrow to Abu Dhabi: EY20, 14:50-00:55 (+1); daily A380 ← A380 from Aug 1st
• Heathrow to Abu Dhabi: EY18, 20:55-07:00 (+1); daily A380 ← A380 from Oct 1st
• Heathrow to Abu Dhabi: EY26, 21:55-07:45 (+1); daily 787-9

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3/4 of passengers transited

Given how impactful the pandemic was, there's little point looking at data from 2020 or 2021, while full-year 2022 numbers aren't available yet. As such, it is best to return to 2019. According to booking data, Etihad carried almost 1.1 million Heathrow passengers that year and achieved an average seat load factor of approximately 86%.

While the point-to-point market was fairly large – well over 200,000 passengers didn't transit anywhere – it was, of course, mainly about connecting passengers. Approximately three-quarters of passengers transited Abu Dhabi.

Heathrow-India was very much its most popular market. In fact, Etihad carried more passengers to/from India than Emirates and Qatar Airways. For Etihad, India was about twice as large a market as number two, Australia. In order of size, its other top 10 markets were Thailand, the Philippines, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

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Where did passengers go?

According to booking data, Etihad carried more passengers between Heathrow and Sydney than anywhere else, although it was not far behind Delhi. Delhi was one of six Indian cities in Etihad's top 10 Heathrow origins and destinations, joining Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. Such was the importance of the South Asian nation.

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Will you be flying Etihad this year? If so, let us know in the comments.

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  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