Etihad to bring back more of its posh Airbus A380s, says new US city coming

The Airbus A380 continues to find a new lease on life with Etihad Airways planning to bring back two more of the superjumbo jets as part of its strong post-coronavirus recovery.

Etihad's sixth and seventh A380s will return to its fleet in February and June of 2025, respectively, said Arik De, the airline's chief revenue officer, at the Routes World conference in Bahrain on Oct. 7. The planes will be used on flights to Singapore and a yet-to-be-named destination on the airline's map.

The carrier first resumed A380 operations on flights to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) last year from its base at Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport (AUH). Etihad has since expanded use of the superjumbos to flights to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai, India; New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK); and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).

The A380's new lease on life comes after many wrote off the 400-plus-seat plane early in the pandemic. Former Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker famously panned the plane as being a "mistake" early in the crisis. But as passengers surged back to air travel and Airbus and Boeing struggled to deliver new planes, many airlines reactivated their A380s to meet demand.

"The Airbus A380 we never thought we'd bring back, and [soon we will] have seven of them flying," De said.

Lufthansa and Qatar Airways are two other airlines that "retired" their A380s only to later bring them back.

Etihad's A380s are known for their posh Residence product, essentially a three-room private cabin at the front of the first-class section on the upper deck. It is one of the most exclusive products on a commercial aircraft today.

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The Residence is staying even as Etihad undertakes a $750 million refurbishment of the cabins on its A380s and Boeing 787s, De said. The A380 updates will focus on "soft furnishings" and a potential expansion of the 70-seat business-class cabin, he added. The majority of the investment will go to the airline's 43 Boeing 787s and 14 Boeing 777s.

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Etihad plans a new US destination

"You're going to hear at least one new U.S. destination very, very soon," De said on the airline's growth plans.

When asked if it could be one of the three cities Etihad has not returned to since its 2017 restructuring — Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and San Francisco — De declined to comment except to say that the destination was "not a usual suspect."

The airline serves Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), where flights began in March, plus Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD), New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington, D.C., from Abu Dhabi.

Etihad counts JetBlue, with its large Boston and New York hubs, among its global network of partner airlines.

Superjumbo: Etihad's flagship Airbus A380 — and the exclusive Residence — is officially back in the US

The carrier plans to increase seats to the U.S. by about 24% this year compared to 2013, Cirium Diio schedule data shows.

Despite the growth, Etihad will fly about 30% fewer seats to the U.S. this year than it did at its peak in 2017, the Cirium Diio data shows. The airline cut flights to the U.S. and elsewhere as part of its restructuring following years of cash-fueled growth and questionable equity investments in smaller airlines in various corners of the globe.

Etihad's flights to the U.S benefit from the only Department of Homeland Security preclearance facility — where travelers clear customs before they board their flight to the U.S. — outside of Canada, the Caribbean and Europe. That allows its flights to arrive as domestic flights at American airports and speeds up the arrival process for travelers.

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