Etihad to up Asia flights, cuts Emirates market share

SUPERIOR PRODUCT: Agents put passenger demand down to the quality of Etihad's service.

Etihad Airways is looking to up frequencies to two of its newer destinations Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL), Arabian Travel News can reveal.

Not only that, but the sales managers in each of these countries claim travellers have been wowed by the carrier's product, with many Emirates airline passengers now switching to Etihad.

"Load factors from Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi currently range from 70% to 80%, with business class always running at full capacity. I have already increased fares twice this year [since the January 16 launch] because the demand is so strong," explained Etihad KL-based sales manager Kathleen Leong.

"I guess a lot of people have switched from Emirates to Etihad and somewhere down the line we could see a double daily service on this route. There are not many true flatbeds out of KL, so that's where we compete."

Leong said even though Emirates, her former employer in KL, operated 13 flights weekly to Dubai, there was enough demand to support more frequencies to the UAE, with many clients using the Middle East as a stopover on their way to Europe.

Her colleague in Singapore, Etihad country manager Michael Tan, reported a similar story.

Having launched the three times weekly Abu Dhabi-Singapore service on September 28, just three days after the Abu Dhabi-Singapore Business Forum (ADSBF) met to forge greater links between the two cities, the route is already witnessing load factors of between 60% and 65%.

The flight then travels to Brisbane in Australia, average load factors for which are hovering between 70% to 75%, with next week's Eid and Christmas period expected to generated loads near full capacity.

"We are getting a good mix of business and leisure traffic - around 50/50," said Tan, former Singapore country manager for British Airways, who noted that the Asian market had been impressed with Etihad's "superior product".

"The name precedes itself; everyone knows about the quality of the airline," he said. "Pearl Zone seats [in business class] are in high demand because of the awareness of how good the product is. We are seeing a lot of new guests try it out, because it's different."

Tan said the plan, in line with Etihad's strategy to operate point to point services, was to run Singapore and Brisbane as separate services and to up frequencies and capacity.

"We have already switched to a Boeing 777 to keep pace with demand," he said.

Etihad already operates services to Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta and will introduce a four times weekly service to Beijing from March 30, in time for the Beijing Olympic Games next summer.

This marks the airline's first foray into the Chinese market where rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways have already made their mark.

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READERS' COMMENTS

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Emirates - Simply a No
Posted by Rajesh Asarpota, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 31 January 2008 at 22:46 UAE time

Tend to agree with all the readers, Emirates has started to take people for granted. As they grew, the assumption was whatever they do, it will be accepted. Initially that was the case due to lack of choice, but with new airlines and competition, Emirates has been left behind.

The staff treat you as herds of cattle with simply no concept of service. Their pricing has become out of reach for many people, and the message is, we dont care.. Quite a shame, as they set the standards, but could not live up to it.

Emirates service?? No
Posted by nadeem, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 31 January 2008 at 17:45 UAE time


I did stick with Emirates till their service (or lack of it) became unbearable and now am willing to travel any airline other than EK. The reason I stuck so long was the Skywards miles but I finally buried the ghost. I like Qatar Airways and Etihad a lot.

On an aside, I flew Al Jazira to Kuwait for a grand sum of AED 350.00 return; on time, with polite staff and a cup of coffee for 5 odd dirhams. The seats are leather and wider with better leg room than Emirates where Economy class= sardine can). Jazira Rocks.
We do need a major well connected alternative to Emirates.

Etihad now our carrier of choice to East
Posted by Martin Cockton, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 31 January 2008 at 08:13 UAE time


I have to agree with the other comments after having our fill of being treated like cattle by Emirates and their services at Dubai airport the personal service offered by Etihad was a refreshing welcome change and alternative.

Both personally and as a business we now use Etihad as first choice both personally and for business flights. As well as excellent service we also achieve massive savings on our previous Emirates ticket expense.

ETIHAD No:1 Airline for its valued customers
Posted by Farzana, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Wednesday 30 January 2008 at 22:24 UAE time

I am very thanks to the staff of Etihad Airline.Last month I bought my aged mother from Karachi to AbuDhabi & requested wheelchair,all the staff from airport counter, flight attendants till we landed at Abu Dhabi Airport. Etihad bought a lift bus especially for us to bring my mom from the airline to terminal. We were the only in that bus. Even Etihad people gave first priority to my mom.

Emirates has lost touch with service
Posted by Mohammed Raza, Dubai, UAE on Wednesday 30 January 2008 at 09:25 UAE time


I used to fly only Emirates until 2004. I was not too happy with the service, but still I continued with Emirates until in 2004 I was literally forced to use the Indian Airlines because I had to fly on a short notice and seats were not available on Emirates. I had to go to Sharjah to take the flight. After boarding the flight (brand new plane) the flight was delayed by 20 minutes because of an excess piece of baggage. Even for such a short delay, the flight crew came and spoke to all the passengers and offered water and juices. A few minutes into the flight my two little kids were getting restless and the flight stewardess offered us toffees and packets of nuts. Then came the beverage service. While they were still serving beverages they made an exception and brought food for my kids (Emirates refused to do so when I requested them on a previous occasion).

Overall the service was superb and everybody in the economy class was getting adequate attention.

Since then I have travelled by Etihad, Air India, Gulf Air and even Air Arabia and I found that the level of service is much better than Emirates on all the other airlines.

Emirates became too overconfident and they have forgotten that they reached the place where they are today, because of the good service they offered in the initial years.

I have a message for Emirates: wake up before it’s too late and please send your customer service heads on a paid trip on Singapore Airlines or Thai Airways to learn about service.

Etihaad &others VS Emirates
Posted by Satish Janardhanan, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday 29 January 2008 at 11:46 UAE time

As a frequent user and a gold card member, I agree that Emirates takes its passengers for granted. They use business class seats as first class on the Saudi-UAE sector and have grown so big and so overconfident that they believe that customers will stay loyal regardless.

I expect they will discover to their horror that in spite of all the new planes they are buying and all the money they are investing in fixed costs, they will run out of customers at this rate

Etihad airline
Posted by H.K.Grover, London, UK on Friday 18 January 2008 at 14:16 UAE time

The level of personal service provided by airline staff clearly has the effect on passenger's travel experience.
Etihad staff try harder to cater for the passenger's needs. Emirates used to do this and they succeeded.
Now the "Level of care and attention" has dropped not only in Economy but have noticed this even in Business class. Some members of staff do not seem to have the right attitude.
Emirates do not even respond to customer's comments whereas Etihad and Qatar both do, and will clearly prosper.

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