It's all taking off for Etihad Airways

High-flying Etihad Airways has soared to a new record for flight bookings in a single day.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier announced yesterday the milestone was reached last Monday, June 11, when more than 65,500 jet-setters booked flights with the airline that day.

That figure surpassed Etihad’s previous record total – set on Monday, January 9 this year - by 13 per cent.

James Hogan, the president and CEO of Etihad Airways, said the number reflected “exceptional demand” for the carrier’s network this summer.

“We are delighted to have broken our own records for flights bookings and will look to raise the bar further over the coming months,” insisted the 55-year-old Australian, whose airline flies to 87 destinations across six continents.

The most popular destination with fliers last Monday was bustling Bangkok in Thailand - followed by the Philippine capital of Manila then London, UK.

Etihad added that passenger bookings for June 14-17 were the highest of any four days previously experienced by the airline.

And well-heeled travellers also appear to be flocking to the Abu Dhabi carrier. Etihad reckons that today it will see advance premium cabin bookings for a single day beat their previous records - with nearly 2,900 confirmations already received for Diamond First and Pearl Business Class flights jetting off across the globe in the next 24 hours.

Etihad’s new global media advertising campaign, which has been aired on screens in the UAE since the beginning of the month, has also proved a hit. The ‘Why’ television commercial has now clocked more than 876,000 views on YouTube for the English version - and nearly 100,000 peeks for the Arabic video.

Etihad, which will add Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, to its list of destinations on July 1, will operate 1,262 flights each week this - up 14 per cent on last year’s total.

duncan.hare@7days.ae