Ties between the gulf countries and the Indian subcontinent have always been particularly strong. The ties are both economic an social, with many Indian expats living in the middle east. Also airlines in the middle east help connect Indian expats around the world to their home towns. One of these airlines is Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways who will resume operations to Kolkata in 2023. However let’s take a closer look at the news.
About the Etihad Abu Dhabi Kolkata Flight
Etihad plans to resume flights to the strategic eastern airport of Kolkata in March 2023. A move to intercept summer seasonal travellers from Europe and the United States returning home to visit family and loved ones.
The flight will be operated on a daily basis although it will have different scheduled times according to the day of the week. This is primarily to accomodate connecting traffic from Europe the US and in particular from the new double daily New York flight.
This is how the flight will operate:
| Flight | From | To | Departs | Arrives | AC | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EY258 | Abu Dhabi (AUH) | Kolkata (CCU) | 21:10 | 03:30+1 | A320 | Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat |
| EY259 | Kolkata (CCU) | Abu Dhabi (AUH) | 04:35 | 08:15 | A320 | Tue, Thu, Fri, Sun |
| EY256 | Abu Dhabi (AUH) | Kolkata (CCU) | 13:50 | 20:10 | A320 | Tue, Fri, Sun |
| EY257 | Kolkata (CCU) | Abu Dhabi (AUH) | 21:15 | 00:55+1 | A320 | Tue, Fri, Sun |
The Aircraft For The Flight
Etihad Airways will operate the flight from Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) to Kolkata (CCU) with one of 8 Airbus A320-200 in its fleet. These planes are setup with an economy heavy layout, which makes them particularly optimised for medium haul high demand flights as this one.
The Etihad A320s used for this route will feature:
- 8 Business Class seats
- 150 Economy Class seats
The reopening of this route is further confirmation of how Etihad, and most airlines worldwide, forecast passenger travel figures to continue growing consistently in 2023. For many carriers 2023 is the year in which the roadmap should see them return to pre-pandemic levels and to healthier revenue figures.
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