Etihad Airways (Arabic: الاتحاد al-ittiḥād) is a flag carrier and the second-largest airline of the United Arab Emirates (after Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Abu Dhabi International Airport (OMAA - ICAO). Established by royal decree of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in July 2003, Etihad commenced operations in November 2003. The name in Latin script is a romanization of the Arabic word for "union" (إتّحاد ittiḥād). In the airline's Arabic name, Etihad (إتّحاد) is preceded by the definite article, al (ال), reading Al-Etihad (الإتّحاد). The airline operates more than 1,000 flights per week to over 120 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas, with a fleet of 119 Airbus and Boeing aircraft as of August 2015. In 2012, Etihad carried 10.3 million passengers, a 23% increase from the previous year, delivering revenues of US$4.8 billion and net profits of US$42 million. Etihad Airways is the third largest airline in the Middle East and it is the second largest airline in the UAE, after the Dubai-based airline Emirates. Its main base is Abu Dhabi International Airport. In addition to its core activity of passenger transportation, Etihad also operates Etihad Holidays and Etihad Cargo. Etihad established its own airline alliance, Etihad Airways Partners, in 2015, which includes Alitalia, Jet Airways, airberlin, Niki, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles and Etihad Regional. Almost every participant airline has a considerable stake of the airline owned by Etihad. Booking for these airlines is consolidated under one network. With the exception of Niki, Etihad Airways holds minority equity investments in the participating airlines along with Aer Lingus and Virgin Australia which are not officially listed as Etihad Airways Partners. The Airbus A330 is a medium to long range wide-body twin-engine jet airliner made by Airbus, a division of Airbus Group. Versions of the A330 have a range of 5,600 to 13,430 kilometres (3,020 to 7,250 nmi) and can accommodate up to 335 passengers in a two-class layout or carry 70 tonnes (150,000 lb) of cargo. The A330's origin dates to the mid-1970s as one of several conceived derivatives of Airbus's first airliner, the A300. The A330 was developed in parallel with the four-engine A340, which shared many common airframe components but differed in number of engines. Both airliners incorporated fly-by-wire flight control technology, first introduced on an Airbus aircraft with the A320, as well as the A320's six-display glass cockpit. In June 1987, after receiving orders from various customers, Airbus launched the A330 and A340. The A330 was Airbus's first airliner that offered a choice of three engines: General Electric CF6, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, and Rolls-Royce Trent 700. The A330-300, the first variant, took its maiden flight in November 1992 and entered passenger service with Air Inter in January 1994. Responding to dwindling sales, Airbus followed up with the slightly shorter A330-200 variant in 1998. Subsequently developed A330 variants include a dedicated freighter, the A330-200F, and a military tanker, the A330 MRTT. The A330 MRTT formed the basis of the proposed KC-45, entered into the US Air Force's KC-X competition in conjunction with Northrop Grumman, where after an initial win, on appeal lost to Boeing's tanker. Since its launch, the A330 has allowed Airbus to expand market share in wide-body airliners. Competing twinjets include the Boeing 767 and 777, along with the 787, which entered service in late 2011. The long-range Airbus A350 XWB was to succeed both the A330 and A340. The current A330 (referred to as the A330ceo (current engine option) since 2014) is to be replaced by the A330neo, which includes new engines and other improvements. As of October 2015, A330ceo orders stand at 1,439, of which 1,230 have been delivered. The largest operator is Turkish Airlines with 53 A330s in its fleet.

• published: 20 Nov 2015
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