Currently operating nine Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, Etihad has been using this stretched 787 variant to fly passengers to major cities located in Europe, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Today, let's examine where exactly the Abu Dhabi-based carrier is operating one of its newest aircraft types.

Over 20 destinations served in November

Examining data from Cirium, it appears that Etihad has sent (or is sending) the 787-10 to 24 different cities throughout the month of November. Quite a few of these appear to be occasional occurrences, with a handful being regular routes.

Seeing 10 or more 787-10 flights during our given period, we have the following cities (with the specific number of flights in parentheses):

  • Bangkok (19)
  • Paris CDG (13)
  • Jakarta (20)
  • Frankfurt (26)
  • Seoul Incheon (28)
  • Kuala Lumpur (10)
  • London Heathrow (38)
  • Moscow Sheremetyevo (30)
Etihad 787-10 Routes
Photo: GCMap.com

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As you can see, London, Frankfurt, Seoul, and Moscow appear to utilize the aircraft the most, with the furthest destination being Seoul at 4,256mi (6,850km). Operating as EY856/857, this service has a duration of approximately seven and a half to eight hours flying east, and around 10 hours flying west. Jakarta's Soekarno–Hatta International Airport appears to be the second longest service coming in at 4,084mi​ (6,573km).​​​​​

The shortest of these popular services is EY65/66 flying to Moscow Sheremetyevo. At just 2,345mi (3774km), flights have a duration of roughly five to five and a half hours flying northwest to Moscow, and a little less than five hours heading southeast towards Abu Dhabi.

More than enough range

Despite the 787-10's inability to fly as far as its shorter Dreamliner siblings, Etihad's routes demonstrate that this stretched variant can still be a solid performer under the right conditions. Indeed, with the 787-10's published range sitting at 7,284mi (11,730km), Etihad's current destinations across Europe and Asia fit the aircraft quite well.

Unfortunately, the jet's range puts its major American destinations just out of reach (if we include fuel reserve requirements) while cities in Australia are completely out of the question. For these longer routes, the airline deploys the Boeing 777-300ER and the 787-9. In the case of New York and Chicago, the A350-1000 also appears from time to time.

More 787-10s are on the way

The 787-10 was ordered by Etihad in 2018, with the first arriving at the airline in 2018. With 30 ordered and nine already delivered, Boeing is set to deliver another 21 of the variant to Etihad in the coming years.

One of these 21 undelivered aircraft has already been built and has flown a few test flights. However, this airframe (registration A6-BMJ) didn't make it to the airline before the lengthy FAA/Boeing delivery halt across much of 2021 and half of 2022. As Boeing works to clear its 787 backlog, we can expect A6-BMJ to arrive at Etihad within the next few months.

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Sources: Planespotters.net, FlightRadar24.com, Cirium

  • Etihad Boeing 787-9
    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