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Etihad goes to FIVE flights per day from London Heathrow

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Etihad is launching a fourth and fifth daily flight from London Heathrow.

The battle between Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad for traffic from the UK has just taken an extra twist.

As we covered recently, Etihad gained three additional slots at London Heathrow when India’s Jet Airways collapsed as part of a sale-and-leaseback transaction done a few years ago when Jet was in need of money.

We now know what Etihad is planning to do with the slots.

Between 22nd May and 22nd June, it will add a fourth daily Heathrow service

Between 23rd June and 8th September, it will add a fifth daily Heathrow service

Between 29th September and 26th October (the end of the Summer timetable) it will drop back to four daily Heathrow services

These additional services will be operated by a two-class Boeing 787-9 aircraft.  The business class seat is the same Business Studio which is on the A380.  I reviewed the Etihad A380 Business Studio here.

I would expect excellent Etihad Guest reward availability on these new services, especially over the next couple of months, and hopefully some competitive fares too.

If you are booked on Etihad between now and 26th October, note that EY11/12 and EY17/18 are being cancelled on certain dates, being replaced by a flight at roughly the same time but with a new flight number.  You should keep an eye on your booking to ensure any seat reservations etc don’t change.

If you are wondering what has happened to the 3rd Jet Airways slot, Air Serbia – in which Etihad still has an equity stake – will be using it for a service to Belgrade.


How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

Etihad Guest does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Etihad Guest miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Etihad Guest miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Etihad Guest mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.

Comments (72)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • BJ says:

    OT @Harry, Anna and other half term experts: What are your predictions for sumner half term 2020 peak dates? I’m guestimating Saturday 23-Sunday 31 May inclusive peak, all of June off peak and all of July peak. Does this sound reasonable or do you folks think peak will still run into first few days in June and off peak into first few days in July as has been the pattern until now?

    • Shoestring says:

      I reckon peak will *at least* include all of 23/5-31/5 – that’s when my kids both get their half term hols

      then most of June off peak (not the first couple of days as you say), then peak beginning again Sunday 5th July

      • BJ says:

        Thanks. That has been the pattern in the past but I wondered if it might be different next year the way the weekends are falling in. I’m hoping off peak will start 6th June and end 3rd or 5th July as you suggest. I want to get a peak flight in early July, not that it matters much as peak will only cost me another 15k avios as we will use a 241.

  • Alex Sm says:

    Should I open a J-Club account now (speculatively) or wait for the merger in terms of a better sign-up bonus?

  • Alex Sm says:

    Also not entirely clear what will happen to the services between 8 and 29 Sep…

  • Shoestring says:

    My son & I are travelling out with BA to our place in the sun (at half term) on IB points from the IB90K deal. Ie Avios redemptions. Out in Business, back in Economy.

    We’re both earning a chunk of Avios and 40 TPs for the trip, booked as a return. That’s what it says in MMB (BA).

    Is that what you’d expect for an Avios redemption using IB points?

    • Shoestring says:

      Booked on IB, I should add.

    • BJ says:

      Shhh, it happens sometimes. Let’s not uncover the scale of the issue here and draw attention to it.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      MMB regularly shows it and you get nothing too. I got nothing for a business return with Iberia booked via Iberia which was showing TP in MMB.

      I hear upgrades with Avios often pay out the higher cabin TP and Avios though.

      • BJ says:

        I’ve had one success with the former and 2 with the latter. Have a nice one sitting there for July so I’m hopeful but expecting nothing.

        • BJ says:

          Also had the scenario where they didn’t charge me but everything was in order on MMB, only I got to check in to discover I didn’t even have a ticket. So, best not to believe everything you see on MMB.

          • Charlieface says:

            You should always check your booking to see it has the 15 digit e-ticket number. The 6 digit number is just for the folio of reservations, there may be no ticket attached. This applies to cash tickets as well.

          • BJ says:

            That’s the thing, there was an e-ticket number, everything was legitimate, I even selected seats and booked meals. First sign of a problem was when I tried to check in online. It didn’t work but even then I thought there would be some good reason for it. Next day I am at check in, agent said there was no ticket, showed her all the paperwork, more tapping of her keyboard still no ticket. Telephone call, still no ticket. Sent to ticket desk, fortunately there was a CW seat left, following a short call she took payment and issued ticket. Agent said it happens sometimes but is very rare.

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