Etihad announces further fleet changes
Speaking at the World Aviation Festival, the CEO of Etihad Airways has announced a further restructuring of the fleet. Most notable for us spotters is the indefinite grounding of its ten A380s. The airline deems the type not commercially viable anymore. Next to this, Etihad will also phase-out its fleet of nineteen B777-300ERs at the end of this year. Over the years, the airline already phased-out six B777-300ERs which were leased from Jet Airways.
According to the CEO, Etihad will focus its long-haul fleet on the B787, which will consist of 30 B787-9s and ten B787-10s. The Boeings will be complemented with twenty A350-1000s, of which five have been delivered. These are, however, currently in long-term storage at Bordeaux until the airline is ready to take them on. If you still need to spot some of the grounded A380s, these are currently parked at:
- A6-APA (166) is stored at Tarbes-Lourdes since 5 November 2020
- A6-APB (170) is stored at Tarbes-Lourdes since 3 December 2020
- A6-APC (176) is stored at Tarbes-Lourdes since 16 December 2020
- A6-APD (180) is stored at Abu Dhabi since 24 March 2020
- A6-APE (191) is stored at Abu Dhabi since 18 March 2020
- A6-APF (195) is stored at Abu Dhabi since 21 March 2020
- A6-APG (198) is stored at Teruel since 19 April 2021
- A6-APH (199) is stored at Abu Dhabi since 18 March 2020
- A6-API (233) is stored at Tarbes-Lourdes since 26 January 2021
- A6-APJ (237) is stored at Abu Dhabi since 20 March 2020
Next to the long-haul aircraft, Etihad also operates a fleet of twenty A320s and ten A321s and has 26 A321neos on order with Airbus.
This latest fleet changes are an accelerated part of an overall company-wide restructuring at Etihad Airways, which aims to have the airline writing a profit in 2023. Last year, Etihad already phased-out its remaining A330s as part of this plan.
Photo by Anton Homma.