Etihad Airways To Fly A380 Twice Daily To Paris

Etihad Airways is expanding its service to Paris, with scale at the forefront of its sweeping changes to its international network.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier has confirmed the return of double-daily Airbus A380 flights between its hub, Zayed International, and Paris Charles de Gaulle, a key move for Europe and France.

This decision is not only a commitment to the A380 on an ongoing basis but also a recognition of Paris’ importance within Etihad Airways’ long-haul network and how two A380 flights a day can now be justified.

Etihad Airways will have the Airbus A380 double daily flights effective 1 July 2026, with the airline in total offering three flights a day, complemented by the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which also features First, Business and Economy cabins.

Under the revised schedule, the airline will see EY31 depart Abu Dhabi at 0235, arriving in Paris at 0755; an Airbus A380 operates this flight. EY32, the return leg, departs at 1040 and arrives at the airline’s home hub at 1935.

The other daily Airbus A380 flight is EY33, departing Abu Dhabi at 1420 and arriving in Paris at 1930. That return flight, EY34, is scheduled to depart Paris at 2150, a late-night departure, ensuring the aircraft arrives in Abu Dhabi the following morning at 0630 local time.

A Building From November 2024

The decision to deploy the A380 twice daily follows the November 2024 restoration of service with the world’s largest passenger plane, the French capital, then, at the time, the third city after London and New York, to welcome back the jet as part of the reactivation efforts.

Etihad Airways has kitted its Airbus A380s out with all of the state-of-the-art features expected for a business aiming to put luxury at the forefront of its decision-making. As a consequence, the jet features the iconic The Residence, First Apartments, Business Studios and more for customers seeking premium options.

Double the A380 magic as it’s being described by the airline, not just adding fundamentally seats but certainly shows the premium brand in the European spotlight, and to Paris especially, the jet, while considered once down and out with groundings, is a statement jet for operations.

Very few destinations can accommodate an aircraft like the A380, let alone for Etihad Airways, which, just 5 years ago, believed the jet had no future. With that in mind, going double daily to Paris with the superjumbo shows just how strong the business and leisure demand is.

The Return Of The Airbus A380 On The Network

Etihad Airways’ A380 operation has been rebuilding slowly but surely over recent years, a careful reconstruction of the network to turn what was a pandemic-era liability into a tool for accessing premium markets and boosting seat capacity.

The jet first returned to commercial service in July 2023, on service to London Heathrow, which was initially the only location slated to receive the jet and part of the planned purpose of reactivation.

However, shortly after, Etihad decided to expand the jet’s scope following a successful re-entry, with New York JFK selected in Q2 of 2024, followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle at the back end of 2024.

Since Etihad Airways has continued to scale the Airbus A380 operation, finding destinations both East and West to serve with the jet. It has chosen markets with high demand and premium-heavy traffic, especially slot-constrained cities, where a larger aircraft is justified.

The London Heathrow use case is among the clearest examples of the role the A380 can play in its tight slot environment, forcing airlines to respond to capacity constraints by deploying larger aircraft. Even though many carriers have opted for twins, some see the benefits of these larger planes even into the mid- to late-2020s.

Several short-term deployments, such as to Mumbai and other cities, have been part of the airline’s seasonal demand responses to test the waters across key markets, and it will not be the last time in the jet’s life cycle that the business does something similar.