Etihad Airways launches London-Abu Dhabi route

A new airline was operating its first services between London and the Middle East today.

Etihad Airways, the recently established national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is flying five times a week between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi.

Using Airbus A330 aircraft, the carrier is operating daily flights on Sundays, Thursdays and Fridays with two departures on Saturdays.

Meanwhile, fast-growing UK leisure airline Excel Airways has announced it expects to exceed two million passengers in 2004, having reached the 1.7 million mark last year.

Excel, which celebrates its third anniversary in May, recently started services to Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts and Tobago.

Due to operate 19 aircraft this summer, the airline began a partnership in January with Internet travel company Expedia to provide hotel accommodation and car hire.

“We believe it is possible to occupy the gap between the no-frills airlines on one side, and the full-service scheduled airlines on the other side of the spectrum,” said Excel’s marketing director Martin Lock.