Bonjour, new guests from small-town India
Puneet Dhawan of Accor is brimming with ideas on ways to revive the hospitality sector
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways will launch services to Chengdu in South-West China from December 15, subject to Government approval, making it the airline’s 69th destination worldwide, it has been announced here.
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, will be connected to the airline’s hub in Abu Dhabi through four non-stop return services per week.
The CEO, Mr James Hogan, said the airline’s new Abu Dhabi-Chengdu service will provide the first-ever flight link between the UAE and Sichuan province.
“This will further stimulate the growth of commerce and trade between the UAE and China, already the UAE’s third largest trading partner,” Mr Hogan said in a statement.
“It will also provide a new, more convenient gateway into South-West China for business and leisure travellers from Europe and the Middle East and a faster, new route to Europe and the Middle East for the rapidly growing Chinese outbound travel market.”
He said with the purchasing power of the Chinese consumer rising in sync with annual GDP growth of 7.5 per cent to 2030, the Chinese travel market has enormous latent potential.
“The new service will position Etihad strongly to grow its services to daily and beyond,” he added.
Please Email the Editor