In less than 40 days, Etihad Airways, the national carrier of United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), will start its four-times-a-week flight service to China.

The new service will provide Chinese travelers with access to the Abu Dhabi-based airline's many destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

The first flight, EY888, will depart Abu Dhabi airport at 11:45 p.m. (local time) on March 30 and arrive at Beijing airport at 11:30 a.m.(Beijing time) on March 31. Etihad's flights to Beijing will operate each Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The return flight, EY889, departs Beijing every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7:10 p.m. (Beijing time), arriving in Abu Dhabi at 00:20 a.m. (local time) the next day.

Beijing will be Etihad's eighth destination in its rapidly expanding Asia-Pacific network. It already has services to Brisbane, Sydney, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok.

The flight times also connect conveniently with many of Etihad's other services from the Middle East and Europe, including London Heathrow, Dublin, Bahrain, Beirut and Jeddah, allowing passengers to fly long haul to and from Beijing via Abu Dhabi.

During his first visit to Beijing, James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive, said on February 21: "We have been looking forward to the opportunity to serve the growing China market. There is a huge appetite from business and leisure travelers for flights to Beijing, especially ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games later this year."

Nearly 200,000 Chinese people work and live in the U.A.E., where there are more than 2,000 Chinese companies. The U.A.E. is China's second largest trading partner in the Gulf and the largest market for Chinese exports in that region.

Trade volume between the U.A.E. and China reached 146.7 billion yuan (US$20.4 billion) last year, a huge 41.2 percent increase on the previous year.

Hogan added the launch of Etihad Airways' Beijing service is set to play a significant role in increasing trade, tourism and investment relations between the U.A.E. and China.

Etihad will operate two Airbus A330-200 aircraft to carry 262 passengers, including 22 in business class.

The carrier was set up as U.A.E.'s national airline in July 2003.