Alitalia: Rome FCO - Abu Dhabi AUH
 

Airline route, 'subject to government approval':
A330, from Dec 1
http://airlineroute.net/2012/08/23/az-auh-dec12/

EY has confirmed the flight:
http://www.etihadairways.com/sites/E...hts-aug12.aspx

Alitalia: Rome FCO - Abu Dhabi AUH
 

Very similar flight times to EY ex MXP

Excellent news and very happy to see A330

Will be interesting to see if there will be some cheap J fares - say 1000 - 1200 euros

Classica + fares not loaded yet

Alitalia: Rome FCO - Abu Dhabi AUH
 

I'd add - its a pity EY don't serve HKG - thats really missing from global map unless you ' back track ' to AMS - CDG which I wouldn't do unless the flight was VERY competively priced

On the Italy - AUH route I'd take AZ over EY in J but not in Y.

I'd say the comfort in business is pretty similar, actually.

Alitalia: Rome FCO - Abu Dhabi AUH
 

Corriere della Sera pg 17 there's a half page advert on the new route.. Great!!!

One Q - the route isn't loaded into MM yet. Will a return in J cost 60 k miles or 80 k miles? The distance is like Saudia Arabia ( 60 k ) but you can't compare a A320 to a A330 experience !!!

No ad, no info on the Facebook and Twitter account, no PR, no news, no newsletter
http://www.alitalia.com/IT_IT/news/

Yesterday evening the flight was not available yet.

Instead, yesterday afternoon, EY issued the press releases, updated the website, sent the newsletter in Italian - which is unusual - to Etihad Guest members:

data: 23 agosto 2012 19:40
oggetto: Da Roma ad Abu Dhabi ed oltre con Etihad Airways e Alitalia
proveniente da: guests.etihad.ae
Da Roma ad Abu Dhabi ed oltre con Etihad Airways e Alitalia

Gentile Alice11,
Siamo lieti di comunicarle che dal 1 dicembre 2012, Etihad Airways in partnership con Alitalia, compagnia di bandiera italiana, offrirà voli diretti da Roma ad Abu Dhabi e in connessione verso oltre 75 destinazioni in tutto il mondo.


Same for the FCO-ZRH and a number of other news. AZ has been doing a number of good things, but they don't market them. :confused:

Alitalia: Rome FCO - Abu Dhabi AUH
 

Slightly OT Alice but why don't EY fly to HKG??

No idea. Their network has several 'gaps'. My 2 cents: something to do with bilateral agreements and / or 'policies' with regard to competition with Emirates.

Thanks Alice11^

HKG would be very useful - lets see but it must be next on EY's list..

Alitalia: Rome FCO - Abu Dhabi AUH
 

Which lounge do AZ use at AUH? Not very clear

Are there two lounges - T3 for J pax and T1 for 'status' pax?

J pax on the codeshare routes went to T3. Status pax went nowhere. That was before the creation of the FCO route on AZ metal though.

I'll answer my Q for the AZ FCO - AUH pax

J PAX get to use etihad loune
STATUS pax get to use Private Lounge in T1 (sorry can't remember name)

Totally off topic but the standard of AZ lounges in Rome is slipping (even further...). Not impressed:mad:

Alitalia: Rome FCO - Abu Dhabi AUH
 

On my outward bound flight load was very very light in all classes
Returning J was pretty much empty, W+ around 8 pax and Y totally packed
Will the route last? We'll have to see if the codeshare works well with EY but it should do