Etihad Airways on Tuesday introduced the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its daily service from Abu Dhabi to Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city and commercial hub.

On arrival in Casablanca, the aircraft was greeted with a traditional water cannon salute.

Etihad Airways’ three-class version of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner features 8 private First Suites, 28 Business Studios and 199 Economy Smart Seats.

The introduction of the aircraft has seen a scheduling change which optimises timings for customers travelling to and from Casablanca.

Etihad Airways maintains a morning arrival into Casablanca, and now operates a mid-morning return flight that provides a more convenient evening arrival time in Abu Dhabi, also improving connectivity to a wider network of destinations including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

To meet summer travel demand, Etihad Airways has also added a third weekly service to Rabat. The extra flight will operate on Saturdays until 12 May, and also from 30 June to 29 September.

Etihad Airways codeshares with Royal Air Maroc (RAM), providing customers onward connections onto RAM's services from Casablanca to Agadir, Marrakech and Tangier, and pending approvals, to the West African cities of Abidjan, Conakry and Dakar.

Royal Air Maroc codeshares on Etihad Airways operated flights to and from Abu Dhabi to Casablanca and Rabat.