THE UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways is to launch its own destination management company.
The new DMC aims to provide a diverse range of leisure and business activities for visitors to Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
Currently the airline in discussion with local tourism partners, and although the final specifications of the DMC are yet to be finalised, many goals have already been put in place. These include tours and desert safaris, event management, bespoke experience packages and VIP services all promoted under one brand and delivered across all participating local tourism and service partners.
Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer Peter Baumgartner said, “Abu Dhabi continues its impressive growth towards becoming a key global business and leisure destination and the Etihad Airways destination management company will be a central part of achieving these ambitions.”
The new DMC will work closely with Etihad Holidays which published its first dedicated brochure for Abu Dhabi and UAE last month. It will also have strong Emirati representation with more than 50 per cent of the tourism professionals in the company set to be UAE nationals.
Etihad also launches flights to Istanbul on June 1, Athens on June 2 and Larnaca on June 14. Etihad Holidays has announced special deals to Cyprus – these start at Dhs 1,525 with three nights’ accommodation at the four star Mediterranean Beach Hotel - as part of its latest vacation packages covering some of the most spectacular corners of the world.
Meanwhile, Etihad Airways has announced it will launch non-stop flights on May 7 to Astana in Kazakhstan from its Abu Dhabi base.
The Kazakhstan capital will be served once a week using an Airbus A319 aircraft.