Etihad Airways is expanding its Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Colombo (CMB) service, increasing frequency from seven flights per week to two flights daily starting 16 February 2014. The additional rotation will be operated with Airbus A320 aircraft configured with 16 business class seats and 120 economy seats, adding more than 1,900 seats weekly between the two cities.
This capacity increase strengthens Etihad’s presence in the Sri Lankan market and improves connectivity through its Abu Dhabi hub. Passengers will benefit from more convenient schedules and better connections to the airline’s network across the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Etihad expects the extra frequency to support both business and leisure travel while reinforcing commercial and cultural links between Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.
Kevin Knight, Chief Strategy and Planning Officer at Etihad Airways, noted that Colombo’s rapid growth as a business and trade center makes the second daily flight a timely response to demand. The increased service is intended to offer greater travel flexibility for customers and to enhance onward routing options via Abu Dhabi.
The deployment of A320 equipment on the route matches demand levels with a practical cabin layout for short- to medium-haul operations, balancing a premium offering in business class with ample economy capacity. The schedule boost also aligns with Etihad’s wider network strategy to deepen connections across key markets and provide added capacity where passenger traffic is growing.
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