Aviation
Commercial /
Asia
Changes at Etihad
Company announces withdrawal of its Boeing 777-300ER fleet this year
Interior do Boeing 777-300ER
Etihad Airways
By Konstantin von Wedelstaedt, GDFL 1.2
Rafael Ramos
4/22/2021
The national airline of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, announced on Thursday, April 22, that it will withdraw its entire fleet of Boeing 777-300ER starting this year. The decision is part of the company's transformation to simplify its fleet, which has already removed the Airbus A330 and kept the A380 indefinitely. The announcement was made by CEO Tony Douglas. Another version of the Boeing 777 that had already been retired was the -200ER.
Etihad operated with 25 different units of the 777-300ER, six of which have already left the fleet in 2016, so that 19 aircraft of the -300ER version had remained in the fleet for passenger transport.
Boeing 777 Cargueiro
Etihad Cargo
By Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia - Etihad Cargo, A6-DDE, Boeing 777-FFX, CC BY-SA 2.0
These aircraft are not old, the average age of this fleet is 10.4 years. Some are even younger. Perhaps some of these units will not be stopped completely, being converted into freighters, however, it has not been said whether this will actually happen.
“[...] we made the decision to stop operating the [Airbus] A330 and to stop the operations of the [Boeing] 777-300ER. You will see that we have a very focused and disciplined operating model, heavily built around the [Boeing] 787 Dreamliner and [Airbus] A350-1000 fleet, ”said Tony Douglas.
Airbus A340-500
Cores antigas da Etihad
By Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia - Etihad Cargo, A6-DDE, Boeing 777-FFX, CC BY-SA 2.0
In terms of widebody aircraft, Etihad has a fleet of 40 Boeing 787 dreamliner aircraft and the upcoming Airbus A350-1000.
Tony declined to comment on the version of the Boeing 777 that was ordered, but said the plane did not fit into his future fleet.
The restructuring of the company, making its fleet smaller, but more efficient, should happen in 5 years. The changes aim at profits only after 2023.
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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