YEREVAN. – Emirates’ flag carrier airline, Etihad Airways, plans to compete in the market of Armenia-U.S. passenger flows, Jim Mueller, company Senior Vice President for global sales, told the media in Yerevan on Thursday, on the occasion of opening Etihad's first flight from Abu Dhabi to Yerevan.  

In addition to Abu Dhabi, a popular destination itself, Armenian passengers will get a new point of access to the cities of the Gulf region, the rest of the Middle East and Asia, as well as the United States.

“It is well known that the U.S. is home to more than 1.5 million Armenians who regularly travel back and forth,”  Mueller said, adding that Etihad currently flies daily to Los Angeles, Chicago, ad Washington DC, and twice daily to New York.

Through a partnership agreement with the American Airlines, passengers arriving to the U.S. can transfer to a large number of local destinations.

Abu Dhabi is also a transit point to popular leisure destinations in the Indian Ocean and Southwest Asia, which enjoy a growing popularity among Armenians, 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 1001 aircraft and serves 102 routes to 60 countries. The company carried 11.5 million passengers in 2013, 12 percent more than in 2012.