OREANDA-NEWS. Abu Dhabi International Airport is pleased to announce the launch today of two new Alitalia routes to the UAE's capital city. The national airline of Italy, 49% owned by the UAE's national airline Etihad Airways, has inaugurated flights between Abu Dhabi and the Northern Italian cities of both Milan and Venice. Both flights arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport this morning and were greeted by the traditional water cannon salute.

The new services complement Alitalia's existing Abu Dhabi to Rome route as well as Etihad Airways' popular flights to both Rome and Milan.

Eng. Ahmad Al Haddabi, Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said:  "This is an exciting time for us to have a world renowned airline like Alitalia introduce two new services to Abu Dhabi International Airport. Italy is an important business and leisure market and I am very confident that the two new routes will be very successful."

"Venice is one of the most iconic and beautiful cities in the world with its ancient buildings linked with an incredible array of canals and I am sure that the Alitalia direct service will be very popular for holiday-makers from Abu Dhabi, the UAE and further afield. Milan is an industrial powerhouse and the new flight will give business travelers a convenient additional service to that currently offered by our home carrier Etihad Airways" added Al Haddabi.

Alitalia's Abu Dhabi to Milan service will be operated by a 293 seat Boeing 777 aircraft configured in three cabins; 30 in business class, 24 in economy plus and 239 in economy.  It will depart Abu Dhabi International Airport every Monday at 8:45 am and arrive in the Northern Italian city at 1:25pm, local time.  The inbound flight to Abu Dhabi lands at 6:15am on Mondays.

The new route to Venice will be flown with a 250 seat Airbus A330.  The Alitalia three-class aircraft will be 20 seats in business class, 17 in economy plus and 213 in economy.  It will take off every Monday at 9:05am and touch down in Venice at 1:35pm, local time.  The arrival time at Abu Dhabi International Airport will be 5:55am on Monday mornings.    

Ariodante Valeri, Chief Commercial Officer of Alitalia added: "Connections between Italy and the United Arab Emirates have never been so strong now that Alitalia tripled its flights to Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi International Airport is the gateway to the East for travellers from Italy that want to reach a big number of destinations in Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East and Australia served by our partner Etihad Airways. We continue on our path to building a Company committed to the expansion of new long-haul routes to meet market demands".