UAE national carrier Etihad Airways has announced the successful launch of its inaugural daily flights to Ahmedabad, India’s fifth largest city and former capital of the Indian state of Gujarat, from its hub in Abu Dhabi.

Celebrating its debut launch yesterday, president and CEO James Hogan, said: “Etihad Airways is committed to serving the Indian market and people, whether in India or the diaspora. We are delighted to launch this new service and are committed to serving our customers in Guajarat."

The flight EY215 will take off from Ahmedabad airport at 5.10am and land in Abu Dhabi at 7.05am. On return, the flight EY216 will leave Abu Dhabi at 10.45pm and arrive in Ahmedabad at 3am (+ 1).

With the addition of Ahmedabad, the Abu Dhabi airline now flies to nine Indian destinations including New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi with a total of 59 flights to India per week.

"Our daily, two-class A320 service to Ahmedabad is another step in expanding our presence on the Indian Subcontinent and connecting key strategic cities with Abu Dhabi," noted Hogan.

"We are confident that the addition of the Ahmedabad service will further strengthen commercial and cultural ties between India and the UAE and will lead to continued strong growth in traffic flows between India, Abu Dhabi and beyond," he added.-TradeArabia News Service