Etihad Airways, the national airline of the U.A.E., announced today an increase in the frequency of flight routes from its base of Abu Dhabi to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. This comes just one month after Saudi Arabia announced that it’s opening up tourism to visitors from 49 different countries – including the U.S. The additional flight demonstrates increased demand among both business and leisure travelers for the destination, as well as Etihad’s commitment to the Saudi market.
Etihad Airways has announced a fourth daily flight on its route from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), effective 8 December.
The additional service will be operated by an Airbus A320 configured with 8 seats in Business and 150 seats in Economy.
Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “The introduction of the new fourth daily service to Riyadh is demonstrative of our commitment to the Saudi market, and of the increase in demand on this core route. This has been boosted by warm relationship enjoyed by the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and by the recent easing of entry visa regulations for tourists entering the Kingdom.
“Riyadh is a key market on our global network, and the additional service adds yet more attractive timings to both business and leisure travellers flying between both capitals, as well as more options for travellers connecting through Abu Dhabi onto Etihad’s global network. As Etihad and Saudia continue to strengthen their partnership, the new flight will also provide convenient travel options to our customers, allowing increased codeshare connectivity on joint services.”
Etihad’s narrow-body Airbus A320 family fleet features refreshed cabins, including comfortable recliner seats in Business, while Economy boasts new ergonomic seating, USB charging points, and personal device holders at every seat enabling guests to download its E-BOX Stream wireless entertainment service, with more than 300 hours of movies, TV programming, music, and more, available to stream directly to their own device.
Etihad Airways has a codeshare agreement in place with Saudia. The two airlines place their flight codes on each other’s services between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi Arabian cities of Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh and Medina. Etihad also places its ‘EY’ code on Saudia flights to Peshawar, Multan, Port Sudan and Vienna, while Saudia also places its ‘SV’ code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and Ahmedabad, Belgrade, Brisbane, Chengdu, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Lagos, Melbourne, Moscow-Domodedovo, Rabat, Seychelles and Sydney. Subject to regulatory approvals, Saudia will progressively add its code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and 11 more destinations in nine countries, including Amsterdam, Baku, Brussels, Dublin, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Phuket, Nagoya, Tokyo and Seoul.
Abu Dhabi – Riyadh schedule effective 8 December 2019 (all timings are local):
| Flight No. | Origin | Departs | Destination | Arrives | Aircraft | Frequency |
| EY315 | Abu Dhabi | 02:10 | Riyadh | 03:10 | Airbus A321 | Daily |
| EY316 | Riyadh | 04:15 | Abu Dhabi | 06:55 | Airbus A321 | Daily |
| EY356* | Abu Dhabi | 08:05 | Riyadh | 09:10 | Airbus A320 | 1.34567 |
| EY357* | Riyadh | 12:35 | Abu Dhabi | 15:15 | Airbus A320 | 1.34567 |
| EY317 | Abu Dhabi | 11:05 | Riyadh | 12:10 | Boeing 787-9 | Daily |
| EY318 | Riyadh | 17:10 | Abu Dhabi | 19:55 | Boeing 787-9 | Daily |
| EY351 | Abu Dhabi | 21:05 | Riyadh | 22:10 | Airbus A320 | Daily |
| EY352 | Riyadh | 23:00 | Abu Dhabi | 01:35+1 | Airbus A320 | Daily |
