It’s entirely possible that this doesn’t materialize, but there’s reason to believe that Etihad Airways may be looking to return to the west coast of the United States.
Continue reading: Will Etihad Airways Resume Los Angeles Flights?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Wish they’d give SFO another try, seeing as Qatar entered during the pandemic & seems to have made it work! (I actually preferred my Etihad business class experience over even QSuites personally)
Apparently EY will stop using their A350s on ultra long-haul due to various limitations and is planning to use their B777 as replacement. Any truth to this?
It’s an RR engine thing. Tim Clark went on record this week and said the reason he’s not ordering the A350-1000 is the engines. The Trent-XWB 97 is really struggling in sandy climates.
Ben - Curious why you think EY flying LAX-AUH won't work, but it works for Turkish, Qatar, Emirates, and Saudi. If they want to make AUH a connecting hub similar to DXB and DOH, they need flights to more destinations. There is likely a sufficient Persian and Indian population in LA to feed into EY's flights in Western/Central/South Asia.
@ NateNate -- A couple of thoughts. First of all, just because the airlines you mention fly those routes, doesn't necessarily mean that they're making money with them. Saudia is not even profitable as an airline, for example.
Regardless, one major disadvantage of Etihad is that the carrier's 787-9s just aren't in a very premium configuration. Most of Etihad's 787-9s have 28 business class seats, and no first class or premium economy. Compare that to Emirates' A380s, which have 90 first and business class seats. If you're going to make money on these routes, it's going to be in premium cabins.
And to talk about economy economics for a second, it's common to see $1,000 fares from LAX to Central and Southeast Asia via the Middle East. Those are 20,000 mile journeys, and the revenue generated with those kinds of tickets doesn't even nearly cover the costs of operating flights like that.
Lastly, Etihad lacks the connectivity and scale of airlines like Emirates and Turkish, which is another competitive disadvantage.
I'd be cool with that! I live in So Cal and have yet to fly Etihad out of LAX as their availability was tough to nab.
The biggest reason it wouldnt work? There are few (relatively) Indians in the LA area. If you cant have Indians/ dont have enough of them, then you need Persians/ Iranians/ Armenians to make it work. LA has plenty of those, but Etihad doesnt fly to Iran or Armenia. So it's just not going to work except for certain high demand periods of the year when Etihad can get whatever spill traffic there is to India (small percentage) OR the local Emiratis go to LA, which they do in summer, but not during other times of the year.
I checked Wikipedia, and Etihad no longer flies to Iran. So it won’t gain many customers from LA’s Persian community.
As an aside, the market for travel to Iran from LA’s Persian community is likely to go down in the years ahead, absent some drastic change in Iran. Those who left Iran as young adults in the first few years after the Revolution are now in their 60s and 70s. If they had parents who stayed in Iran, most of those parents have passed away by now. Not as much reason for that generation to go back for visits anymore.
Could we please get a trip report from Japan? You know, an actual report on staying in hotels and traveling around Japan?
Ah thats a good point and disappointing. I plan travel for my parents out of LAX and it would be great if they had another business class option where miles could be used.
Small correction: EY was operating the 77W to LAX and had been doing so for a while. Obviously too big a plane for the route especially during COVID; I’m confident that the economics of the 787 will make LAX viable considering how long EY flew to LAX during the pandemic. For what it’s worth, Etihad’s digital signpost is up at LAX’s curbside.
Sure, though for the overwhelming majority of their time here, EY flew the 77L to LAX. 77W only came in at the latter stages, and IINM, wasn't even daily when they pulled the plug. Don't recall them ever flying the A345 here.
Ah, you're right.
Just dug through some of the announcements: the first 3weeks June 2013 were operated by the A345. 772LR took over in July 2013.
There's gotta be more to it than that... else he wouldn't have ordered 200+ units of a widebody whose engines (1) have yet to be tested in in-service conditions anywhere, much less a desert; and (2) whose engines have been modified/PIPed three times since flight trials began.
My guess is that Airbus hasn't (yet) given him the price he wants, in exchange for on-wing time.
"My guess is that Airbus hasn't (yet) given him the price he wants, in exchange for on-wing time."
More likely to be Rolls-Royce who makes those guarantees and pricing concessions, not Airbus. I do agree that that's likely what is delaying them from announcing an order for the -1000 just yet, though this article makes it seem like an order is eventually going to happen, despite all the tough talk.
Etihad has Arik De running their revenue team now, which includes network. If you know him and his track record, you can expect to see a steady stream of aggressive expansion. He's also paired up with Antonoaldo Neves, his former CEO at TAP - so undoubtedly that is a blueprint you can look at as well.
Will this undo the rationalisation of the Tony Douglas years? Time will tell, but conservative growth is not the style of the current team at Etihad.
How micromanaged do you think they'll be by the government though?
I'm sure the gov appreciates the Douglas era having stemmed the bleeding, but I'm equally curious as to how much sleep they lose..... due to the cultural affront of not having the biggest/best/flashiest new toys, compared to Dubai/Qatar/etc.
Having met Arik a few times, he is one the best minds out there. He was not only at TAP with Antonoaldo, but was also behind Aeroméxico and WestJet network and revenue. However, I don’t think he will expand LAX. See his track record at TAP. He sent the 321-LR’s to ramp up frequencies to places like Boston and Newark, than go for new destinations. If I am a betting man, I would see him keep focusing on frequency additions in North America. Look what’s happened in Europe. Almost all markets are getting a second flight. More than LAX, perhaps we will see a second daily IAD or ORD.