United Arab Emirates flag carrier Etihad Airways inaugurated a new direct air route connecting Abu Dhabi and Ho Chi Minh City Wedneday.

Etihad Airways will now offer one flight a day with the Airbus A330-200 aircraft, its Chief Commercial Officer Peter Baumgartner told reporters at a media meeting in HCMC.

This represents a carrying capacity of 3,700 seats per week.

The Abu Dhabi – Ho Chi Minh City flights are also capable of carrying more than 9,500 tons of airfreight per year, which will boost the bilateral trade values between the two countries in the future.

Baumgartner said Etihad Airways will offer codeshare services, in which both airlines share the same flight, with Vietnam’s national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on the VNA flights from Hanoi and HCMC to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, VNA will offer codeshare services with its UAE counterpart on the latter’s flights from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi.

Etihad Airways is the third Middle East airline after Qatar Airways and Emirates Airlines to open a direct route to Vietnam.

From Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways has passenger and cargo flights to 94 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.