Summary
- Etihad Airways has scheduled flights from Abu Dhabi to Phuket, Thailand, with an Airbus A321LR in August 2025.
- The aircraft should come equipped with a three-class configuration, including lie-flat business class seats.
- The airline has recently announced that it would increase its capacity on flights to Thailand, including Bangkok and Phuket.
schedules have indicated that the airline was planning to launch flights with the Airbus A321LR with a flatbed business class seat in August 2025, connecting Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with Phuket, Thailand.
Lie-flat business class
According to a report by AeroRoutes, Etihad Airways has begun selling flights on the
between Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport (AUH) and Phuket International Airport (HKT).
The inaugural flight was scheduled on August 1, 2025, with the narrowbody aircraft operating Etihad Airways flight EY414 and the return itinerary EY415.
Photo: Telsek | Shutterstock
In addition to EY414/EY415, the AUH-based carrier has scheduled two more departures on the route on the day, namely EY412 and EY410, with the latter two being operated by a
.
Etihad Airways should configure its A321LRs with three different cabin classes, including two first class seats, 16 business class seats, and 144 economy class seats, added the outlet, noting that these schedules were still subject to changes.
The airline’s booking engine has corroborated the report. On July 31, 2025, flight EY414/EY415 was scheduled to be flown by a Boeing 787-9.
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Increasing capacity to Thailand
On August 15, Etihad Airways announced that it was increasing the number of weekly flights from AUH to Thailand, including Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and HKT, to 41.
Starting from October 27, the carrier has planned to operate three daily flights from AUH to BKK and 20 weekly flights from/to HKT.
Except for EY414/EY415, the airline scheduled daily flights on its route from AUH to HKT, with the aforementioned itinerary running six times a week, excluding Tuesdays (EY414) and Wednesdays (EY415).
Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock
Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that between August and July 2025, the airline plans to utilize the Boeing 777-300ER, 787-9, and 787-10 on its flights from AUH to HKT.
However, between November and March 2025, the Emirati airline will only operate the 787-9 on the route, with the 787-10 returning on flights to HKT in April 2025.
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Competition on flights to HKT
While Etihad Airways is the sole airline flying the AUH – HKT route, within the wider Persian Gulf region, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Oman Air, SalamAir, and Air Arabia have scheduled flights from their respective hubs to the Thailandese city.
Overall, in July, airlines had scheduled 63 weekly flights, amounting to 18,927 weekly seats and 94.3 million available seat kilometers (ASK).
Photo: Dirk Daniel Mann | Shutterstock
By July 2025, the capacity on flights to HKT will go down slightly, with Oman Air and SalamAir removing three and four weekly itineraries on flights to HKT, respectively.
Meanwhile, Air Arabia has preliminarily removed all of its flights from Sharjah International Airport (SHJ) to HKT.
The data from Cirium, with the latest information showing airlines’ schedules up to July 2025, could still change. Nevertheless, Etihad Airways was the only airline that has added flights to HKT, adding seven weekly itineraries and growing its total network to the airport to 21 weekly departures.
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