Etihad raises the bar again on Milan: with Summer, A350-1000 suites arrive at Malpensa
Etihad Airways continues to invest in Milan Malpensa. And it does so at an unrelenting pace. Last December 15, it [...]
Etihad Airways
MXP
United Arab Emirates
Etihad Airways continues to invest in Milan Malpensa. And it does so at a rapid pace. Last December 15, it began operating two daily frequencies between the Lombard capital and Abu Dhabi, but has already announced that starting From October 1 this year, weekly frequencies will increase to 18, with as many as three daily flights on four of the seven days of the week.
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Now also come interesting developments on the front of the aircraft that will be used starting in the coming months on the route.
Traditionally, for years now, Abu Dhabi-Milan-Abu Dhabi rotations have been entrusted by the Emirates carrier to the Boeing 787-9, with some 'sprinkling' of the more capacious 787-10.
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But important news is expected for Summer 2025. While, in fact, the EY80 flight, the night flight, to be precise, which leaves Malpensa at 10:50 p.m. to land in Abu Dhabi at 6:55 a.m. the next morning, will continue to be operated with a Dreamliner, the morning flight from Milan (EY82 of 10:55 a.m. with arrival in the Emirates at 7 p.m.) from April 1 will be assigned on numerous occasions (but not always) to the flagship of Etihad's fleet, the Airbus A350-1000, which in Business Class sports 44 suites which are the company's flagship product in 'business' class.
Each Collins Aerospace Vector suite is equipped with a sliding door, has a seat that turns into a 79-inch (201-centimeter) long bed and an impressive 21-inch (53.5-centimeter) seat, an 18.5-inch screen for the IFE And bluetooth sound system.
The 327 Recaro CL3710 seats in Economy Class. have 18 inches (46 centimeters) of seating, a 13.3-inch IFE screen, and the distance between rows of seats is 31 inches (79 centimeters). Etihad has just 5 of these 'beauties' in its fleet (delivered by Airbus between July 2019 and May 2020) and it is significant that it is using one of them on the route to Milan.
From September, all morning flights will be entrusted to the stretched version of the A350. In July and August, however, EY81 and EY82 flights will be switched to a Boeing 777-300ER. In the very high summer season, Etihad has decided to put a machine on that rotation that offers the same capacity as the A350-1000 (370 places vs. 371) but With a less exclusive and less recent Business product.
The 777-300ERs that will fly between Milan and Abu Dhabi each morning will have 40 seats in Business Class and 330 seats in Economy. The evening flight (which from October 1 will be joined, four times a week, by an afternoon flight leaving Malpensa at 4:25 p.m. and arriving in Abu Dhabi at 00:25 a.m.) will continue to be operated with a mix of Boeing 787-9s and 787-10s, albeit with a clear preponderance of the -9s (which have 28 seats in Business and 262 in Economy) over the more capacious -10s (which offer 32 seats in Business and 295 in Economy).
