YEREVAN. – Etihad Airways opened a direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Yerevan. The company will establish a foothold in Armenia with four flights a week, Jim Mueller, Etihad Senior Vice President for global sales, told the media in Yerevan on Thursday.

Etihad’s first flight has landed in Armenia’s gateway airport - Yerevan’s Zvartnots, today in the morning, and received a welcome by the CEO of Zvartnots, Mr Marcelo Wende, who participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the new flight.

Armenia is already an active destination for UAE air carriers, but Etihad will be the first full-service commercial airline. The company will operate four flights a week with Airbus 320 aircraft, which can accommodate 136 passengers each, including 16 in business class. Altogether, 1,088 seats per week will be available for flights to and from Armenia with plenty of space for cargo as well, Mueller told.

“Armenia is a new market for us and we are delighted to be here. Both Yerevan and Abu Dhabi have been key transport destinations for thousands of years, and we want to support the growth of trade and tourism between Armenia and the UAE,” he added.

Etihad Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Arab Emirates, active since November 2003 and based in Abu Dhabi, The company operates a fleet of 1,001 aircraft and serves 102 routes to 60 countries. The company carried 11.5 million passengers in 2013, 12 percent more than in 2012.