Dubai, August 17th, 2007 (WAM) - Etihad Airways will lease or buy six AirbusA320s over the next six months to add frequencies throughout the MiddleEast and feed traffic into its long-haul flights from Abu Dhabi.

Gulf News said that the Etihad has purchased one A320 from KJ Aviation,a US leasing firm, and two more have been procured from Air Malta, ina short-term 'wet-lease arrangement' where both the aircraft and creware provided.

The aircraft will join the Etihad fleet in September and October. A furtherthree are expected by the end of the first quarter in 2008, a spokespersonsaid.

Etihad is in negotiations with several leasing firms to either buy orlease these planes. Tehran will be the first city to be served with thenew plane, followed by Beirut, Dammam, Karachi, Muscat, Bahrain, Cairo,Doha, Kuwait, Amman and Damascus.

Etihad currently has a fleet of 27 wide-body aircraft. In June, it placeda $2.2 billion order for 12 new Airbus planes, including four A340-600s,five A330 passenger aircraft and three A330 freighters.

The paper quoted James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive, as sayingthe addition of the 140 seater A320 will allow Etihad to increase thenumber of flights to Gulf destinations and improves transfer times toits global network.

"Narrow-body aircraft are ideally suited to our growing Middle East andshort-haul network and it will allow us to redeploy the wide body aircraft,currently in use on these routes, to our long haul destinations," he saidin a release.

Etihad's first A320 will have two passenger cabins with 120 seats in economyand 20 in business class.