United Arab Emirates (UAE) national carrier Etihad Airways has confirmed it will inaugurate flights between Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo, its first destination in South America. The expansion into the region was expected although there is a long lead time from this announcement and the proposed launch date of June 3, 2013. The airline will use a three-class Airbus A340-600 aircraft, offering 12 Diamond First Class, 32 Pearl Business Class and 248 Coral Economy seats – providing a total capacity of 2,044 seats per week.

The new service will mean that Etihad Airways will from next summer offer flights to all the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China. Brazil is now the world’s sixth largest economy, having overtaken the UK in 2011. It is the largest country in South America and has the biggest population, at almost 200 million and trade and tourism will be boosted significantly over the coming years by its hosting both the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016.

“Brazil is a logical next step for us and will mark the sixth continent we serve and our coming of age as a truly global airline,” said James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways. “Business and tourism flows between the United Arab Emirates and Brazil have been growing and will be strengthened by our daily direct flights between Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo.”

Brazil is currently the UAE’s fourth largest trading partner with bilateral trade between the two countries valued at US$2.85 billion and authorities hope to lift this to US$10 billion within five years. There are 25 major Brazilian companies with offices in Abu Dhabi, and the UAE buys sugar, soya beans, meat, aircraft, heavy oils, tractors and construction vehicles from the South American country. Exports from the UAE to Brazil include oil rigs, aviation fuel, steel, aluminium goods and plastics.

In 2011 an estimated 203,000 O&D passengers travelled between the Middle East and Brazil, a market that has shown considerable growth over the past five years. Although last year’s figure was down around 6.8 per cent on 2010, it still represents a massive increase on the approximately 69,000 O&D passengers that were travelling between the two areas in 2006.

The reason for this growth in traffic has been the introduction of non-stop air capacity between the Middle East and Brazil. Etihad Airways’ fellow UAE operator Emirates Airline launched the first direct services between the Middle East and Brazil in October 2007 with a non-stop service between Dubai and Sao Paulo. It was followed in May 2009 by El Al which also introduced flights to Sao Paulo but these were suspended in November 2011. Emirates Airline has subsequently launched flights between Dubai and Rio de Janeiro, while Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines (THY) also currently serve the Brazilian market. THY inaugurated flights between Istanbul and Sao Paulo in March 2010 and Qatar Airways introduced services to Sao Paulo from Doha in June 2010.

Alongside the O&D traffic, Etihad Airways’ service will also provide connection opportunities from Brazil to the airline’s global network from its Abu Dhabi International hub particularly to markets in the Gulf Co-operation Council, the Indian Subcontinent and Asia, where traffic flows are notable. According to statistics for 2011 around 80 per cent of passengers on Emirates Airline’s passengers from Brazil do not start or end their journeys in Dubai, while around 96 per cent of passengers flying with Qatar Airways similarly do not begin or end their journeys in Doha. This latter figure will be slightly inflated as Qatar Airways’ services continue on from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires, however even if the O&D traffic on this route is removed, around 51 per cent of passengers are still using Doha International Airport as a transit point.

Already in 2012 Etihad Airways has announced the launch of non-stop daily flights to Washington, D.C., Basra, Lagos, Addis Ababa, the Indian city of Ahmedabad and Vietnam. These cities are part of the airline’s 10-year network growth plan which will see Etihad Airways fly to up to 100 destinations with a fleet of more than 150 aircraft by 2020.