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The UAE's national carrier Etihad Airways has announced the introduction of a route to Hyderabad in India later this year.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline will launch a direct service four times a week from November 2009, which will become daily in at the start of 2010.

"Etihad has made no secret of the fact that it wants to build up its Indian services," said James Hogan, Etihad Airways' CEO.

"Hyderabad is a key Indian destination not currently served directly from Abu Dhabi. It therefore represents a great opportunity for our airline.

"As well as strong point-to-point traffic, we expect Hyderabad to make a significant contribution to the rest of our network, with particularly strong connecting traffic flows linking India to both North America and Europe."

The airline will operate an Airbus A320 on the new Hyderabad route, carrying up to 140 passengers with 20 in business class and 120 in economy class.

Currently, Etihad serves a total of seven Indian destinations - Mumbai, New Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kochi (Cochin) and Kozhikode (Calicut) in the southern Indian state of Kerala, as well as Chennai (Madras).

The airline is also pushing to secure further traffic rights from Abu Dhabi to other India cities, including Bangalore.

Hyderabad, known as the ‘City of Pearls', is well-known for its rich history, culture and architecture. It is also home to the world's largest film studio, the Ramoji Film City.