VIENNA, 2014-6-2 — /Travel PR News/ — The Austrian airline NIKI, which belongs to the airberlin group, is aiming to launch a daily service from Vienna to Abu Dhabi this upcoming winter.
Subject to government and regulatory approvals, the first flight will take off from Vienna on 24th November 2014. This will be the first long-haul service in the NIKI route network.
“For the first time in the ten-year history of the airline, we are planning a long-haul connection from Vienna. This is a special moment in the journey of our airline,” said Christian Lesjak, Chief Executive Officer of NIKI.
“The new Abu Dhabi route expands the scope of direct destinations from Vienna. The Middle East is a particularly important for tourism, and we look forward to the start of operations,” said Julian Jäger, Director of Vienna Airport AG.
An Airbus A320 aircraft configured with 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy Class will fly the route. This will be the first time that NIKI has offered a Business Class product.
Flight guests from Vienna will also have good connecting options through Etihad Airways’ equity and codeshare partner network to destinations across the Gulf region, Asia, Australia and the Indian subcontinent.
topbonus miles may be collected and redeemed on all NIKI and Etihad Airways flights. The corporate program business points used by many Austrian companies also makes it possible to collect and redeem points on all NIKI and many Etihad Airways flights.
NIKI flight schedule for the new Vienna–Abu Dhabi connection from winter 2014/2015, subject to regulatory approval:
| Flight number | Origin | Departs | Destination | Arrives | Aircraft | Frequency |
| HG7086 | Vienna (VIE) | 11:10 | Abu Dhabi (AUH) | 19:50 | NIKI Airbus A320 | daily |
| HG7087 | Abu Dhabi (AUH) | 02:40 | Vienna (VIE) | 06:10 | NIKI Airbus A320 | daily |