Etihad Airways will launch direct flights to Rome next summer. Commencing on 15 July 2014, the airline will operate daily services to the Italian capital, using its 262-seat, two-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Flights will depart Abu Dhabi at 0240, arriving into Rome’s Fiumicino Airport at 0710. The return service will then leave at 1200, getting back into Abu Dhabi at 1955. “Our new daily services to Rome are a significant addition to our European network and will strengthen our offering to Australian travellers,” said James Hogan, Etihad’s president & CEO. “Travellers will now be able to connect in Rome to other cities on Alitalia’s domestic and European network, to destinations like Bolzano, Tirana and Zagreb with Etihad Regional, and to Belgrade with Air Serbia. “Etihad Airways’ strategy of equity and codeshare partnerships is giving… travellers better access to a growing number of European cities as well as making the travel experience a more convenient,” Hogan added. Etihad currently operates flights to Milan Malpensa Airport, but also codeshares with Alitalia on its five weekly Abu Dhabi-Rome services and onwards from the Italian capital to Milan, Bucharest, Sofia, Vienna, Venice, Madrid, Malaga, Budapest, Malta and Barcelona. Source: Travel Daily