Etihad Airways flights to San Francisco to begin from November 18

UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways recently announced it will be launching its new service to San Francisco International Airport from Abu Dhabi effective from November 18, 2014. The launch of new flights will make San Francisco the airline’s sixth U.S. gateway.

The announcement came soon after another leading Gulf carrier Emirates Airline revealed its plan to introduce Airbus A380 aircrafts on Dubai-San Francisco route effective from December this year.

Etihad Airways however said that it will operate flights on Abu Dhabi-San Francisco route with the help of Boeing 777-300ER aircrafts leased from its partner India’s Jet Airways. Currently, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways owns a 24 percent stake in India’s largest private carrier Jet Airways.

Etihad Airways in a statement said that the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will continue to have the seats, layout and livery of Jet Airways, while the airline will deploy its own Etihad crews to provide services to the passengers on board the flight. The airline has however declined to reveal its plan or announce date for deploying its own aircraft on the route.

The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to be operated on San Francisco-Abu Dhabi route will be configured in three classes – 8 First Class seats, 30 Business Class seats and 308 Economy Class seats. Etihad Airways also said that it will be offering roundtrip business class tickets to the customers at around $5,000 to $7,000. Those planning to travel in First Class will be offered roundtrip tickets at $14,515, while roundtrip flights for travel in Economy Class will be available at around $780 to $1,380.