Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has launched its maiden Moscow flight from its home-base of Abu Dhabi.

The five flights a week service to the Russian capital will be followed by a new service to the Kazakhstan commercial capital Almaty, which starts on December 2, bringing the total number of destinations served by the carrier to 50.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “Russia is an increasingly important destination from the UAE, as the countries increase their trading relationships. Since we announced this route earlier in the year, we have seen strong interest in it, both from UAE travellers and from customers transitting through our Abu Dhabi hub from cities around the world.”

Spanning no less than 10 time zones, Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of surface area. Russia’s economic power lies in its huge natural resources, particularly oil and gas which has brought rapid economic growth to the country.

Moscow is the country's political, economic, financial, educational and transportation centre. The city is a major economic centre and is home to the largest number of billionaires in the world. Many multi-national corporations have branches and offices in the city.

The Russian capital will be Etihad’s eleventh destination in its flight network in the Europe region which already includes services to Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Manchester, Milan, Minsk, Munich and Paris.

Flight EY069 will depart Abu Dhabi on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 9.40 am and arrive at Moscow’s Domodedovo international airport at 2.05pm the same day.

Return flight EY068 will depart Moscow on the same days at 2.55pm, arriving in Abu Dhabi at 9.05pm.

The flight will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 configured to carry 140 passengers with 20 seats in business class and 120 in economy class. -Tradearabia News Service