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Etihad’s 777-200LR History
In the early 2010s, Etihad Airways started a massive expansion, both across its fleet and route network. In this process, it invested heavily into many airlines, such as Alitalia, Virgin Australia and Air Berlin to create a global alliance of partner airlines, further helping it consolidate its grand plan. Etihad also ordered many new widebody aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing. However, notably, the 777-200LR was nowhere to be seen on those orders.
Instead, the Worldliners were second-hand aircraft, unlike most of their fleet. During this period, Air India was having financial difficulties, and, in an attempt to simplify its fleet, it put all of its 8 777-200LRs on sale. Seeing this as a quick way to add widebody capacity to its fleet (and possibly as an easy option to replace their gas-guzzling A340-500s), in December 2013, Etihad bought 5 of Air India’s 8 ultra-long-range jets, with the airframes being delivered between February and April 2014. Later that year, the UAE carrier also negotiated purchasing Air India’s remaining trio of Worldliners, however the deal fell through.
As it turns out, Etihad’s massive expansion plan was too ambitious, with the airline posting massive losses in the following years. Aggravating things, many of their partners filed for bankruptcy during this period. Suddenly, Etihad saw itself with too much capacity, thus, operating mostly empty planes on their flights. This lead to a massive restructuring of the airline, which involved fleet simplification, with the oddball 777-200LRs being obvious targets for retirement. Additionally, Etihad’s central hub location in the United Arab Emirates meant that most of their destinations were within range of the larger and more economical 777-300ER. Therefore, between January and March 2018, the airline retired their fleet of 5 777-200LRs.
Why should this livery be added to Infinite Flight?
In September 2014, Etihad unveiled its current livery. However, given the oddity of their 777-200LRs, as well as the fact they joined the fleet between February and April 2014, and were retired just four years later, none of them received this identity. As it stands, only two aircraft in Infinite Flight feature the older Etihad livery, those being the A321 and the A330-200F. Therefore, I believe this livery would be a nice addition not only to have an extra option to fly Etihad’s old livery, but also to remember this interesting quirk of the airline’s history.
