Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, June 18, 2012, 6:15 am -- /EPR NETWORK/ -- Etihad Airways achieved a new milestone on Monday 11 June when more than 65,500 flight bookings were made with the Abu Dhabi-based airline.
The figure was the highest number of bookings ever made in a single day with Etihad Airways and exceeded the previous record, on Monday 9 January, by 13 per cent.
In addition, passenger bookings for Thursday 14 June to Sunday 17 June are the highest of any four days previously experienced by Etihad Airways.
Advance premium cabin bookings for a single day are set to beat previous Etihad Airways records, with nearly 2,900 combined bookings already received for Diamond First and Pearl Business Class flights on Sunday 17 June.
The most popular overall destinations for travel over the 14 - 17 June period are Bangkok, Manila, flights to London, flights to Riyadh and Jeddah. Top premium travel destinations also include flights to Paris, Sydney and Frankfurt.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways' President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "Etihad Airways is experiencing exceptional demand for flights across our network for this weekend and into the summer. We are delighted to have broken our own records for flights bookings and will look to raise the bar further over the coming months.
"The Etihad Airways network and aircraft fleet has expanded greatly in the past 12 months and we are delighted to offer customers flights and world class services to short, medium and long haul destinations. This flight demand will continue to grow and we urge our customers to book their summer travel quickly to avoid disappointment."
New records have also been set by the Etihad Airways new global media advertising campaign that was launched at the beginning of June.
The "Why Etihad?" television commercial has now received more than 876,000 views on YouTube for the English version and almost 100,000 views for the Arabic version.
Overall, the Etihad Airways YouTube channel has now received more than 1.5 million views for all its video content.
Etihad Airways will operate 1,262 flights each week in the summer of 2012, compared to 1,106 flights in the summer of 2011, an increase of 14 Per cent.
The airline has 280,498 seats on its flights available each week compared to 235,818 seats per week last summer, an increase of 19 per cent.
There is a 14 per cent increase in the number of global destinations on the Etihad Airways flight network in the summer of 2012, with flights operating to 73 passenger destinations compared to 64 in 2011.
Since summer 2011 Etihad Airways has launched services to Shanghai, Nairobi, Basra, Male, Seychelles, Chengdu, Dusseldorf, and Tripoli. On 1 July it will begin flying to Lagos.
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About Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, began operations in 2003, and in 2011 carried 8.3 million passengers. From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad Airways serves 87 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, with a fleet of 66 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and 100 aircraft on order, including 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Etihad Airways also holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus. For more information, please visit: www.etihad.com.
For more information contact:
Tom Clarke
Etihad Airways Corporate Communications
P.O. Box 35566, Head Office
Khalifa City A
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
+971 50 812 5796
www.etihadairways.com