Etihad has added capacity to several of its key Asian routes, adding larger aircraft onto its flights to Chengdu, Seoul and Shanghai.

The carrier’s daily Abu Dhabi-Chengdu route has been upgraded from a 262-seat A330-200 to a 299-seat B787, increasing available seats by 14 per cent.

Meanwhile flights to Seoul are now being served by Etihad’s 494-seat A380, increasing capacity by 47 per cent compared to the previous B787-10 operating the route.

Finally the airline’s Shanghai service has been upgraded from a B787-9 to the larger B787-10, adding 12 per cent capacity.

Commenting on the news Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer of Etihad Airways, said:

“Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing air transport region in the world, and China is the fastest-growing individual market.

“As we continue to modernise our aircraft fleet, and as we work with tourism partners to increase visitor numbers to Abu Dhabi, we are deploying newer, larger planes to key markets throughout our network.”

As previously reported, the move means that all of Etihad’s Chinese routes are now served by the Boeing Dreamliner, with its Hong Kong service switching to the B787-9 at the end of March.

Etihad also outlined plans to add its Dreamliner aircraft onto route to Frankfurt, Milan, Dublin, Johannesburg and Lagos this year.