Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is increasing its presence in Morocco with the launch of a new twice-weekly service between Abu Dhabi and Rabat to create a direct link between the two capitals.

Scheduled to start on January 15, 2016, the new service will be operated on Wednesdays and Fridays using an A340-500 aircraft configured to carry a total of 240 passengers, with 12 in First Class, 28 in Business Class, and 200 in Economy Class.

The new service is Etihad Airways’ second destination in Morocco and complements its existing daily service to Casablanca. This brings to nearly 4,200 the total number of seats available to passengers travelling on Etihad Airways’ services between the UAE and Morocco each week.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ president and chief executive officer, said: “Our service to Casablanca has performed strongly since it was launched in June 2006 and I am delighted to build on this success with the introduction of the additional service to Rabat.

“The new service provides passengers with more choice and two-way connectivity between Morocco and the UAE, and onwards over our hub in Abu Dhabi to key destinations across our global network in the GCC, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia.

“We remain committed to building sustainable ties in the North African region and deepening the strong relationship between Morocco and the UAE,” Hogan said. - TradeArabia News Service