TANZANIA AIRPORTS AUTHORITY (TAA)
Press Release
Etihad Airways in Dar by December
*Reveals Network Growth Strategy
The Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) based airline, Etihad Airways is eyeing Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) as one of its new markets in December 2014.
This has been revealed in a presentation at the World Route Development Forum Strategy Summit in Chicago, US where delegates from Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) which manages JNIA and other 57 government owned airports countrywide are in attendance.
The World Routes presentation was delivered by Etihad Airways Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, Kevin Knight who treated delegates to an engaging presentation at the summit.
Etihad Airways, the rapidly developing airline revealed how it planned to take advantage of the extraordinary growth and unparalleled diversification currently taking place in the UAE.
Knight said he was confident of Etihad’s organic growth over the coming months and years thanks to a combination of advanced aircraft technology, enabling non-stop access between Abu Dhabi and almost any destination in the world, with a new airport terminal from July 2017, lifting annual passenger capacity to 30 million, according to Routesonline media.
In his presentation, Kevin outlined the carrier’s expanded network by the end of 2015 which includes a brand new route announcement outlining the deployment of aircraft to JNIA, Dar es Salaam and other airports in the capital cities, Tbilisi in Georgia and Baku in Azerbaijan.
Flights to all three destinations will be operated using Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration, with a total of 16 seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class.
Currently, Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) is constructing a new Terminal III building at JNIA which will have capacity to handle 6 million passengers on completion by October 2015. The facility will have a feature which allows Airbus 320 to dock and get mantainance. For now, Etihad Airways can dock its Airbus 320 series at JNIA but with a limited space at TB II runway.
Etihad’s ideally-located hub in Abu Dhabi allows it to connect expanding and emerging markets, the likes of Africa, India and China, with existing mature markets, such as Europe and the US.
Demonstrating this strategy, Knight told the delegates that, by the end of the next year the little-over a decade old airline will have added a number of new non-stop routes including San Francisco and Dallas in the US in November and December 2014 respectively; alongside Africa’s Dar es Salaam (December 2014), Entebbe (May 2015) and Algiers (June 2015).
Madrid and Edinburgh are due to be added from March and June 2015, with Georgia and Azerbaijan capital cities, Tbilisi and Baku respectively, both arriving in October 2015.
Knight told the delegates that, next February will see Etihad Airways commence flights to Kolkata and Hong Kong, with Phuket in Thailand arriving slightly earlier this October.
Rounding off the 13 new routes will be the carrier’s new non-stop service to Brisbane in May next year, dropping the Singapore stop-over that is currently included on the service, he added.
To close his presentation, Knight declared: “The airline industry is changing and the future offers a wealth of opportunities, accordingly Etihad is taking a pro-active initiative-based approach to more effectively compete on the world stage.”
Issued by Godfrey John Lutego
Public Relations Officer –TAA
Tel. 0713-507777
September 24, 2014
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