Etihad Airways (EY) today announced its plans to launch services to Washington Dulles from its hub in Abu Dhabi (AUH), its fourth North American destination. The service will start from March 31, 2013 using Airbus A340-500, subject to regulatory approval. Etihad will join a growing number of airlines that offer flights to Middle Eastern region from Washington Dulles (IAD).
Etihad’s announcement shows that there is a strong demand from the Washington metropolitan area for services to Middle East. Etihad expects strong O&D traffic between Washington and Abu Dhabi, with less reliance on any connections, because its code share partner American Airlines has minimal carriage from Dulles (mostly to American’s hubs). Washington metropolitan region (which also includes Baltimore metro) has strong political, military and institutional ties with the Middle East and hence the demand for first and business class cabins should be high. The region also has large populations from Indian subcontinent and Middle Eastern countries, which should take care of filling the economy class.
In recent years, United Airlines and its Star Alliance partners have steadily added services to Middle Eastern and African destinations from Washington Dulles, making the airport a primary transit point to these regions. Qatar Airways has been flying the Doha-Washington route since 2007. It is a very popular route with travelers to Middle Eastern countries and the Indian subcontinent. United Airlines already operates daily flights from Dulles to Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain (extension of Kuwait flight) and Accra. Recently United Airlines announced extension of its Dubai service to Doha. Qatar Airways already has code sharing agreement with United Airlines, with most of its connections to US cities routed through United’s Dulles hub. Ethiopian Airlines has been serving the Washington-Addis Ababa route for a while.Turkish Airlines is flying to Istanbul. And South African Airways is flying to Johannesburg. The only missing link is the Emirates’ service to Dubai. One reason could be to avoid competition with United Airlines which already operates in that route. But it is only a question of time before Emirates announces the Washington service. May be 2013?
An Offbeat Note: James Bennett is the CEO of Abu Dhabi Airport Company (ADAC). Before taking over that position, he was the President and Chairman of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which manages both Washington Dulles and Washington Reagan National Airports. May be it is a coincidence that Etihad has announced the AUH-IAD route?
