The new flights, scheduled to commence on 1 March 2012, will make Shanghai the airline’s 70th global destination.

Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer James Hogan announced the new services today in an address to 300 representatives of the global aviation industry who are attending the Aviation Outlook China Summit in Shanghai this week.

“Shanghai, the most populous city in mainland China, is a strategically important addition to Etihad’s China network. Together with our daily flights to the capital Beijing, the Shanghai route will offer travellers competitive access to the two biggest centres for commerce, trade, government, culture, and tourism in China,” he added.

“For travellers originating in China, this means a wider choice of convenient flight options to the UAE, Middle East, Europe, and North America, and on the way, the award-winning combination of luxuriously appointed aircraft, best-in-class service, and some of the finest international cuisine in the sky. Through Etihad’s efficient Crystal Cargo operation, we also intend to pursue growth of the valuable export trade for high tech and other commodities,” he said.

Today’s announcement follows a press conference in Chengdu yesterday, where Mr Hogan released details of the airline’s planned new services to the Sichuan province.

“The commencement of services to Chengdu and Shanghai and this week’s increase in frequency to Beijing are major investments of aircraft and commercial resources into China. It reflects our confidence in the current strength and future potential of the inbound and outbound travel markets,” Mr Hogan said.

Etihad, winner of Middle East’s Leading Airline at this years World Travel Awards will operate an Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the Abu Dhabi-Shanghai route, configured in Pearl Business and Coral Economy class.

Shanghai.City.Mobi
To find out all the latest news and information whilst in Shanghai, City.Mobi has launched its new guide to the city.

Shanghai.City.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.