Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, celebrated the fifth anniversary of its non-stop service between Abu Dhabi and Indonesia.

The airline commenced operations to Jakarta on March 16, 2006 with four non-stop flights per week, increasing to six later that year. Strong demand for travel to and from Indonesia saw a further increase to daily flights just one year later in 2007.

Jakarta now ranks as one of the top destinations in Etihad’s network of 66 cities worldwide, which includes the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, UK and Ireland, Europe and North America. The Abu Dhabi-Jakarta route has consistently achieved passenger loads of between 80 and 90 per cent of capacity over its first five years, the airline said.

Etihad uses the state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300 and Airbus A330 aircraft on the Abu Dhabi–Jakarta sector.

“In our first five years of service to Indonesia, we have received tremendous support from the government, business sector and the people of this wonderful country,” said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive officer.

Etihad is also committed to a range of community engagement programs on the ground in Indonesia. This includes support for local charities, community events and educational programs. An example is The Mosaic Project, now in its third year, which gives a number of young and aspiring Muslim leaders the opportunity to travel to the UK for the Mosaic International Summit.-TradeArabia News Service