Etihad Airways has temporarily suspended its three weekly passenger flights and two weekly cargo flights to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, effective immediately. The announcement follows safety and operational challenges which the airline has observed in recent months at Tripoli airport.

Etihad Airways will increase its Abu Dhabi-Colombo service from seven flights per week to a double daily schedule from February16th, 2014. Operated with an A320 aircraft fitted with 16 Pearl Business Class seats and 120 Coral Economy Class seats, the new service will add over 1,900 seats per week on the Abu Dhabi-Colombo route.

Etihad Airways is to increase the frequency of its Abu Dhabi – Jakarta flights from seven to 14 per week. The addition of the new daily flight on October 27, 2013 will double the number of Boeing 777-300ER services operated by Etihad Airways between Abu Dhabi and Jakarta and will bring to 20 the number of weekly flights offered in partnership with Garuda Indonesia.

Etihad Airways has announced its intention to purchase from Air India five Boeing 777-200 LRs, the longest range passenger aircraft in operation to support its accelerated network growth plan. The two carriers signed a letter of intent in Mumbai earlier this week paving the way for the deal.

Etihad Airways has confirmed its equity stake in Virgin Australia Holdings has reached 19.9 per cent. This follows a series of on-market purchases of Virgin Australia shares over recent weeks.

Etihad Airways has continued to achieve record growth in the third quarter of 2013, with revenue from passenger services exceeding US$1 billion for the first time and passenger numbers passing three million. Total revenue rose 11 per cent to US$1.4 billion, compared to US$1.3 billion in quarter three of 2012, while network-wide passenger load factors reached 81 per cent.