Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi based ME3 carrier has started the process of induction of A321neo aircraft to be able to expand its short-haul capabilities. For those who don’t know, Etihad Airways already has a fleet of 9 196 seater A321-200 aircraft, which it operates around the Indian subcontinent and other short-haul destinations in the Etihad network (such as Tel Aviv).

Etihad to bring in six A321neo aircraft into the fleet from Bamboo Airways

Etihad had 26 Airbus A321neo aircraft on order of its own which were expected to go to its joint venture, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi as of 2022 (per Tony Douglas). However, Tony moved on, and these orders, placed in 2013, continue to be deferred as Etihad decides the future of its own operations. Airbus Orders & Deliveries currently shows 20 A321neo aircraft on order, so it is unclear as to what happened to 6 of the earlier orders.

However, for now, Etihad is going to acquire six used A321neos, all of which served Bamboo Airways, and induct them into its fleet. Bamboo Airways found no use for these aircraft as it restructured its operations, and they were handed over to the lessor, Aviation Capital Group, and these were stored in 2023. Etihad is taking over all the six A321neos and will bring them into its fleet within the year 2024. Out of the six, three are expected to join the fleet by June 2024, and the rest by October 2024.

The first of these aircraft arrived in Abu Dhabi earlier in May 2024, and it looks gorgeous. It was registered in Cyprus, then sent to France for a visit to the paint shop and then flown over to Abu Dhabi.

Etihad is expected to fly the aircraft to various short haul destinations, such as to Doha, Ammam, Bahrain, Bangalore, Cairo, Delhi, Mumbai and Muscat. Abu Dhabi to Bengaluru will see EY238/239 switch to the A321neo as of June 7, 2024.  Effective June 10, 2024, Abu Dhabi to Delhi (EY212/213) will be operated with the A321neo some days of the week.

Effective June 15, 2024, the frequencies on Abu Dhabi to Bengaluru and v.v. will increase from 14X to 17X weekly. The 3X weekly addition flights on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday will be operated with an A321neo. The timings are as follows:

EY236 AUH 03:10-08:50 BLR
EY237 BLR 10:00-12:35 AUH

Bottomline

Etihad Airways will begin inducting six A321neos, previously being flown by Bamboo Airways. The first of these has arrived in Abu Dhabi in Etihad livery, and the induction of all six of these aircraft will be completed within the year. Etihad will start sending these aircraft to India early June 2024 onwards, and you can see them visit Bengaluru and Delhi, amongst other destinations.

What do you think of Etihad’s Airbus A321neo induction?

---

Liked our articles and our efforts? Please pay an amount you are comfortable with; an amount you believe is the fair price for the content you have consumed. Please enter an amount in the box below and click on the button to pay; you can use Netbanking, Debit/Credit Cards, UPI, QR codes, or any Wallet to pay. Every contribution helps cover the cost of the content generated for your benefit.

(Important: to receive confirmation and details of your transaction, please enter a valid email address in the pop-up form that will appear after you click the ‘Pay Now’ button. For international transactions, use Paypal to process the transaction.)

We are not putting our articles behind any paywall where you are asked to pay before you read an article. We are asking you to pay after you have read the article if you are satisfied with the quality and our efforts.