Etihad Adds Copenhagen, Plans Dusseldorf Return

Credit: Joe Pries

Etihad Airways is introducing two routes to its European network later this year, with the launch of flights to Denmark’s capital Copenhagen and the resumption of service to Dusseldorf in Germany after a hiatus of more than three years.

Nonstop service from Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Copenhagen (CPH) will run from Oct. 1, operating four times per week. The route will become the Gulf airline’s first to Denmark.

Flights to Dusseldorf will also commence on the same date with three round trips per week, becoming Etihad’s third German gateway. It currently flies daily to Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC).

The airline previously offered regular daily service to Dusseldorf until the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. However, the route has been absent from its network ever since, except for a brief period in August and September 2020.

Both Copenhagen and Dusseldorf will be operated using Boeing 787 aircraft with 28 seats in business class and 262 in economy.

For the week commencing Jan. 16, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-Copenhagen market is served by Emirates with daily flights from Dubai (DXB).

Emirates also serves the UAE-Dusseldorf market with a double-daily DXB-DUS route using Airbus A380s and 777-300ERs. In addition, Condor operates a weekly flight from DUS to Abu Dhabi and a 2X-weekly service to Dubai Al Maktoum (DWC), both using 757-300s.

Under the stewardship of new CEO Antonoaldo Neves, Etihad is serving 64 destinations from its Abu Dhabi hub at the present time, offering 281,968 weekly seats across its network. This compares with 436,230 seats and 75 destinations at this time three years ago.

David Casey

David Casey is Editor in Chief of Routes, the global route development community's trusted source for news and information.