Etihad Airways To End South America Flights Starting Next Year

Effective next year, Etihad Airways has revealed that flights between Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) and São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) will be terminated. The only scheduled service South America operated by the Emirati carrier has been significantly impacted by the downturn in the Brazilian economy, according to the carrier. As the Brazillian Real has weakened, the route’s performance has fallen far below that of the airline’s expectations.

The daily route was launched in the summer of 2013 as a non-stop flight. And this cessation will mark the first time that Etihad is dropping an ultra-long haul route. Traditionally, the São Paulo route has been served by the Airbus A340, one of the airline’s oldest aircraft, which has a seating capacity of 240. Since the route was launched in 2013, Etihad has also used other types of aircraft, including the 777-300ER, the 777-200LR, and a 777-300ER.

At the moment, it remains unclear as to whether the airline has plans of introducing one of its newer aircrafts for the Sao Paulo routes. Previously, Etihad had announced plans to tackle slow growth, although dropping the Sao Paulo route did come quite as a surprise.

Compared to the airlines’s major rivals, namely Qatar and Emirates, Etihad has always had the tendency to pursue a different growth strategy. While Etihad has remained unassociated with any of the largest three airline alliances in the world, the carrier did form a partnership in June 2016 with Avianca Brasil.

The airline’s decision to cancel the route could also be due to the need to focus on improving financial matters with partner carriers, particularly following the public spending cuts that took place at the end of 2015 in Abu Dhabi.