Etihad to start flights to Changi

[MAN Flyer]

Nice to see another choice at least:


In other news, Gulf-based Etihad says it will begin its long-awaited service to Singapore next September. It will be the Abu Dhabi national carrier's fifth destination in the region after Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Etihad will operate the route three times a week with a 262-seater Airbus A330 configured for 22 in business and 240 in economy class. Schedules have yet to be finalised with Singapore's civil aviation authority. But they are expected to offer good connections at Abu Dhabi to destinations in Europe.

[WSSS]

It will be a great addition to our range of airlines we have at SIN. The well known airlines like SAS, Finnair, Austrian, ANZ have stopped flying to SIN. Soon Gulf Air will also not fly here. Well, at least have Etihad here, that's good. I hope more airlines like Delta and (maybe Air Canada, SAA) will launch services here. Some *A carriers should relaunch their services to SIN, this is entirely my opinion. I would love to see their planes again.

[The High Flyer]

Yesterday, I changed my MSN nick from "Finnair Abandons Singapore" to "Etihad Comes To Singapore!". Heee. My friends and colleagues must have been wondering why they had such an airline freak in their midst.

But seriously, Finnair has a special place in my heart. It was this carrier that ferried my wife and me to Helsinki for our honeymoon. So sad to see it go!

[WSSS]

Its sad to see more and more airlines stop flying to Changi. Now we have to go to BKK to spot. For me, I'm sad since there will no be no more MD11s to spot here.

[The High Flyer]

SAA has been in Singapore before. I have seen it a couple of times. Not sure when it stopped visiting. I have also seen "exotic" airlines like Air Madagascar. Sadly it has also abandoned Changi. Now you will have to fly them from Bangkok if you're going to Antananarivo. LOT Polish Airlines is another airline I remember. On a positive note, Air Zimbabwe is a new tenant for us. Not sure how long it'll last.

[WSSS]

I went plane spotting at the usual place again (T1 viewing mall) and took tons of pictures. I don't think they are suitable to be put in this post, and I shall enhance them. We shall see how long Air Zimbabwe lasts, hopefully some of the airlines that terminated service will return here. I actually don't mind flying to BKK just to spot... I was late so I didn't see PIA or Air Zimbabwe but I saw Air India Express, China Airlines and tons of Garuda (with one A330). Was lucky to see quite a number of SQ 744s passing by and even a 77W!