Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, added a new route to Edinburgh, its first route to Scotland. It is Etihad's third connection in the U.K. Etihad also flies three times a day to London Heathrow and twice a day to Manchester.
The new service will be operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 240 seats in economy class and 22 in business class.
For Scotland, the flight will provide convenient connections through Abu Dhabi to Australia, the Middle East and Asia.
Flight EY28 will depart from Edinburgh at 9:10 a.m. and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 7:40 p.m. Flight EY27 will depart Abu Dhabi at 2:20 a.m. and arrive in Edinburgh at 7:20 a.m.
The new airline connection reflects a growth in commerce between the two regions. According to the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics, bilateral trade between the UAE and U.K. reached more than £12.36 billion ($19.63 billion) in 2013.
With more than a million tourist arrivals annually, Edinburgh is the U.K.'s largest tourist market after London. Edinburgh is the fourth largest financial center in Europe.
Scotland welcomed the Gulf carrier with open arms, according to Peter Baumgartner, chief commercial officer for Etihad.
"Scotland is the natural next step on our growth trajectory in the U.K., with strong tourism and business traffic in both directions," said Baumgartner. "We have been impressed by the welcome we have received from Edinburgh Airport and from the Scottish tourism industry. Many local stakeholders have played a part in attracting us to the city and welcoming us here, and we're confident this service will be a great success."
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