That’s right! Etihad Airways Flight # 5215 and 5105 is a bus! So, not exactly a flying bus, but a bus with a flight number.
The “Flying Bus” / Photo Credit: Etihad Airways
Here’s the story: I am putting some travel plans together for the Dubai marathon and was looking at various flight options that fit my schedule. Amongst the flights, I saw a flight with Etihad Airways (which flies out of Abu Dhabi) from Dubai. I thought that must be a very short flight (only 1 hour 20 minute drive). That is when I saw this on the Kayak detail page:
Basically, if you were to buy (or redeem) a ticket with Etihad Airways in Business Class or First Class (or you purchase it as part of the reservation), you get chauffer service within the UAE at the start or end of your journey. So, if you were to redeem for a business class ticket from Abu Dhabi, you would be able to be picked up in a chauffered car from anywhere in the UAE. In this case, Etihad flight 5215 is actually a charter bus that picks up passengers from the Dubai Bus Station (flight 5105 picks up form the Dubai Mall) and ferries passengers to the Abu Dhabi Airport for a 18 hour layover (depending on your flight from Abu Dhabi).
If you are not flying in business or first, you can add the bus extension on to your ticket for 80 AED ($21). However, if you buy directly through Kayak, you can actually have the bus fare included for the same price.
Cost for a direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Athens
Cost with the bus fare included
Sure, this is not something most people will ever use. And to be clear, many premium flights offer ground transportation for free, but it was just a surprise find to me to say that there is such a thing as a flying bus, or at least a bus with a flight number. 🙂 How about it – anyone know of any other type of transportation that has a flight number? A boat? A train?
