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Darwin Airline (Switzerland) will rebrand its operations as Etihad Regional

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Old Nov 17, 2013, 7:42 am
  #1  
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Darwin Airline (Switzerland) will rebrand its operations as Etihad Regional

There were already rumours about a potential tie-up, now it's official

Press release from Darwin Airline.

ETIHAD AIRWAYS ANNOUNCES ‘STEP-CHANGE IN BUSINESS
STRATEGY’ WITH THE LAUNCH OF ETIHAD REGIONAL
· Branded operation to start following acquisition of 33.3 per cent stake in Swiss
carrier Darwin Airline
· Etihad Regional to connect passengers from secondary markets into Etihad
Airways’ European network and hubs of equity alliance partners
· Etihad Airways announces daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, complementing
current daily service to Geneva
Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, today announced a ‘stepchange
in global aviation’, with the launch of its first branded regional operation, after taking a
33.3 per cent stake in Swiss carrier Darwin Airline.
Following completion of the minority investment, which is subject to regulatory approval, Darwin
Airline will rebrand its operations as Etihad Regional and align its network to connect
passengers from secondary European markets onto the main networks of Etihad Airways and
its equity alliance partners.
Etihad Airways will also launch daily services on June 1st, 2014 from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, which
will become one of Darwin Airline’s main operating hubs.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is a stepchange
for Etihad Airways. With our new partner Darwin Airline, we are creating a unique
approach to network development for global airlines. [...]
A lot of new routes to be introduced:
APRIL 2014:
· Dusseldorf - Cambridge
· Dusseldorf - London City
· Dusseldorf - Berlin
· Berlin - Poznan
· Berlin - Wroclaw
· Zurich - Leipzig
· Geneva - Toulouse
· Rome – Tirana
· Rome - Zagreb
MAY 2014:
· Geneva – Belgrade
· Geneva - Zurich
· Zurich - Florence
· Zurich - Turin
JUNE 2014:
· Geneva – Bordeaux
· Geneva – Marseille
· Geneva – Nantes
· Geneva – Verona
· Zurich - Linz
· Zurich - Graz
· Zurich – Lyon
· Zurich - Verona
Very interesting move IMO
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Old Nov 17, 2013, 9:25 am
  #2  
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Bizarre to only take a 33% stake and still label it Etihad....
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Old Nov 17, 2013, 9:47 am
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Very interesting
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Old Nov 17, 2013, 1:05 pm
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Originally Posted by RTW1
Bizarre to only take a 33% stake and still label it Etihad....
The maximum they can hold under Swiss legislation and without losing traffic rights is 50 percent minus 1 vote. I don't know they share structure of Darwin but they can't gain control.

Also EY usually takes less than half - same in the case of AB or OK ...
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Old Nov 17, 2013, 2:19 pm
  #5  
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Airline route already published the AUH-ZRH schedule.
ETIHAD from 01JUN14 is launching Abu Dhabi – Zurich service, with daily operation on board Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Planned schedule as follow.

EY073 AUH0205 – 0650ZRH 333 D
EY074 ZRH1205 – 2225AUH 333 D
This schedule with the aircraft 5 hours on the ground could allow
a bank of departures of Etihad Regional around 8am to take connecting pax to the below destinations and return by 11am in time to bring a fresh batch of pax to ZRH to connect with EY074.

Last edited by GBM.flights; Nov 17, 2013 at 3:21 pm Reason: picture...argh
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Old Nov 18, 2013, 7:18 am
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A pity LUX is not a part of their planning. However, Darwin did flights to LUX last year but they were not a great succes.
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Old Nov 18, 2013, 9:59 am
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Very interesting how Etihad is getting their act together in Europe. Flying from Switzerland to Air Berlin hubs, but also starting the GVA-BEG route, to feed their recently purchased Air Serbia. It looks to me as if they're going more and more head-to-head with Lufthansa.
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Old Nov 18, 2013, 9:59 am
  #8  
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It seems to be moving very fast this tie-up.
New CFO EY-appointed.

Darwin Airline, the Swiss-based regional airline, today announced the appointment of Ms Shelley Cole to the role of Chief Financial Officer.
Shelley joins Darwin Airline from Air Seychelles where she was Chief Financial Officer, on secondment from Etihad Airways.
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Old Nov 18, 2013, 1:05 pm
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For AUH-ZRH-AUH also the fare inventory is loaded and flights are bookable. Flights are operated with three classes of service (F/J/Y).
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Old Nov 19, 2013, 9:15 am
  #10  
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The new livery as published on www.businesstraveller.com
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Old Nov 19, 2013, 9:39 am
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Swiss media are picking up on the story today (in french):

http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevo...story/14048772

It will be fascinating to see how Darwin/Etihad will battle it out with Swiss, especially on the route GVA-ZRH.
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Old Nov 19, 2013, 12:13 pm
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While I share hopes and excitement, I have some doubts whether these routes will be strongly marketed. The operating cost of the Saab 2000 is not very competitive.
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Old Nov 21, 2013, 6:05 am
  #13  
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Etihad Regional (Europe): EY to acquire 1/3 of Darwin Airline, rebrand it,



Originally Posted by Business Traveller
Subject to regulatory approval, the Abu Dhabi carrier will acquire a one-third stake in Lugano-based Darwin. The Swiss airline will then be rebranded as Etihad Regional.

By the middle of next year, the plan is to operate no fewer than 21 new routes serving 18 destinations in the UK and mainland Europe.

•By June 2014, Etihad Regional will include six European gateways served by Etihad itself — Geneva, Amsterdam, Paris, Dusseldorf, Belgrade and, commencing that month (June 2014), Zurich
•In April 2014, there will be nine new routes — Dusseldorf to Berlin, Cambridge and London City; Berlin to Poznan and Wroclaw; Geneva to Toulouse; Zurich to Leipzig; and Rome to Tirana and Zagreb
•In May 2014, Etihad will start flights from Zurich to Geneva, Florence and Turin; and from Geneva to Belgrade
•In June 2014, the airline will launch flights from Zurich to Linz, Graz, Verona and Lyon; and from Geneva to Bordeaux, Marseille, Nantes and Verona.
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Old Nov 21, 2013, 8:20 am
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Does that mean that there will be a real business class on these routes? real BC meaning: 2-2 seating instead of the dreadful middle seat is free.
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Old Nov 21, 2013, 8:26 am
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As I asked in another tread: will there be a real business class. If so, that would be interesting as it would be the first airline in Europe to introduce a real business class. (actually, I thought Virgin's Little Red would do so but apparently they went all-economy)
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