Etihad Airways has began Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai, China.
The new Dreamliner features the airline’s next-generation business and economy class cabins, and operates with 299 seats, 28 in Business class and 271 in economy, representing a 14% capacity increase on the route.
Peter Baumgartner, chief executive officer of Etihad Airways, commented, “Since launching flights between Shanghai and Abu Dhabi four years ago, we have experienced first-hand the huge growth of China’s outbound tourism market and enjoyed strong demand from both business and leisure travellers.”
China recently surpassed the US as the biggest business travel market in the world, according to the Global Business Travel Association, representing US$291.2 billion spending on business travel in 2015.
Shanghai is the seventh destination in the world to be served by Etihad Airways’ B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with the aircraft also deployed to Perth, Brisbane, Singapore, Washington DC, Zurich and Düsseldorf.