Etihad Airways has introduced a daily Airbus A380, the world’s biggest passenger airliner, to Mumbai, from its hub in Abu Dhabi.
The maiden flight of the new service landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai on Sunday evening to mark Maharashtra Day, the airline said.
With this, Etihad Airways becomes the third foreign airline to fly the A380 to Mumbai. Singapore Airlines and Emirates have been operating A380 services from Singapore and Dubai respectively since 2014.
Mumbai becomes the airline’s fourth A380 destination following London, Sydney and New York, with Melbourne set to join on June 1, 2016.
“With the aircraft upgrade, Etihad Airways is able to offer an all-A380 daily service in both directions between Mumbai and New York JFK International with a seamless connection over Abu Dhabi, along with the USA customs border protection which enables guests to pre-clear US customs in Abu Dhabi. The service is operated as a codeshare flight with Jet Airways,” the airline said.
The inaugural A380 Mumbai operational crew included 22 all-Indian cabin crew and Indian pilots, Captain Ramesh Krishna, from Hyderabad, and First Officer Irfan Rizvi, from Mumbai.
Etihad Airways’ A380 has a total capacity of 496 seats — up to two guests in The Residence, nine First Apartments, 70 Business Studios, and 415 Economy Smart Seats. The Residence is an ultra-private, three-room suite featuring a living room with a 32” LCD monitor, bedroom with a double bed, separate en-suite shower room and dedicated personal butler to look after the needs of passengers. The cabin also comes with a private chef ready to custom-create menus.
The A380 operates on one of the five-daily scheduled flights between Mumbai and Abu Dhabi. Etihad Airways operates three flights and Jet Airways operates two.
