Etihad Airways has confirmed it will launch daily non-stop flights between Abu Dhabi and Rome on 15 July 2014.
Rome?s Fiumicino airport will join Milan Malpensa as Etihad Airways? second Italian gateway.
?The new Abu Dhabi-Rome flights, together with codeshare partner Alitalia?s existing services, will enable travellers from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to connect seamlessly to Rome.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways? President and Chief Executive Officer, said travellers would benefit from Etihad Airways partnerships with Alitalia, Darwin Airline (Etihad Regional) and Air Serbia which offer flights from Rome to an extensive network of cities in Italy and throughout Europe.
?Travellers will now be able to connect in Rome to other cities on Alitalia?s domestic and European network; to destinations like Bolzano, Tirana and Zagreb with Etihad Regional; and to Belgrade with Air Serbia,? Mr Hogan said.
Etihad Airways currently codeshares with Alitalia on its five weekly Abu Dhabi-Rome services and beyond to cities such as Milan, Bucharest, Sofia, Vienna, Venice, Madrid, Malaga, Budapest, Malta and Barcelona.
Etihad Airways? Abu Dhabi-Rome flights will be operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft configured with 22 fully flat beds in Pearl Business Class and 240 seats in Coral Economy Class.