Etihad to increase its Dreamliner fleet to 51

The Abu Dhabi airline will take delivery of an additional 13 Boeing 787s

Etihad's will increase its fleet size to 51 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Courtesy Etihad / Boeing

Etihad is set to add more jets to its fleet by the end of 2021. The Abu Dhabi airline plans to take delivery of 13 new Boeing Dreamliners, despite the aviation slowdown due to the pandemic.

The national airline of the UAE currently has 38 Boeing 787s. Eithad confirmed this number will increase to 40 by the end of the year. In 2021, the airline will begin to receive the first of another 11 jets on order.

"Here at Eithad we love the 787... and it's our most efficient aircraft. Our customers also love it and the whole cabin experience," said Paul Kear, senior vice president of technical at Etihad, at a media briefing with Boeing on Wednesday, September 23.

The fuel-efficient Boeing 787 can carry up to 336 passengers and has a range of 11,400 kilometres. Etihad is getting set to receive its newest 787-10 after the jet completed participating in Boeing's ecoDemonstrator programme in Montana.

Etihad's new Dreamliner testbed

Etihad partnered with Boeing to allow its newest jet to be fitted with special equipment and flown around a remote airfield to gather data that could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and noise levels for future flight designs.

The programme also saw Boeing test a portable wand that can inactivate viruses and bacteria on airplanes.

Etihad Airways was the first airline to evaluate the device, and the UV wand's capability was demonstrated on the Etihad 787-10 ecoDemonstrator jet on August 21.

Boeing licenses UV cleaning wand

The mobile tool allows the flight deck to be disinfected much faster then current procedures being used by airlines, with cleaning completed in less than 15 minutes. Since testing concluded, Boeing has announced a partnership with Florida company Healthe, who will now manufacture the UV wands for use in sanitising aircraft interiors.

As part of the media briefing, Boeing also confirmed that plans for the next ecoDemonstrator testing programme were already under way. The aircraft manufacturer did not reveal further details on when it would take place or what technologies are set to be tested.