Abu Dhabi Etihad Airways has launched flights to its eighth destination in India — the Garden City, Bengaluru. Etihad operates four return flights a week to Bengaluru, which is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka and the country’s third most populous city.

The airline will increase to a daily service on the route from March 25, 2011, at the commencement of its summer scheduling season. Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways’ Country Manager in India, said: “India is a hugely important market for Etihad — in fact, we operate to more destinations in India than any other country. “We are delighted to be able to reach out to our guests in Karnataka through this new direct service — the first to operate between [Bengaluru] and the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi.”

Etihad operates a two class Airbus A320 on the new Bengaluru route configured to carry 140 passengers with 20 in Business class and 120 in Economy class. With the addition of Bengaluru, Etihad flies to eight Indian destinations including New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad and Kochi with a total of 49 flights to India per week.