Etihad Airways is in major expansion mode at the moment, in a project known as Journey 2030. With this, the airline is looking to grow significantly, both in terms of its fleet and its number of destinations.
Continue reading: Etihad Adds Seven New Destinations: Almaty, Baku, Tashkent, And More!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I was already flying Etihad from SFO to Almaty via Abu Dhabi with the help of FlyDubai, bookable at Etihad’s website
Having experienced a handful of Etihad flights, I can attest to the satisfaction of doing so. As the new routes into the Silk Route ‘stans appeals to those of us with a sense of adventure, I look forward to learning more …. Ben?
They've already flown to most of these places. I think Tbilisi and Bucharest are the only new ones. Maybe Tashkent too. Otherwise Etihad already flew to all of these places in the past. And make no mistake, they may say it's all about tourists going to and from Abu Dhabi. That's nice talk, but on most flights it's still 80%+ just transiting. I love Abu Dhabi but it's still a far way from being a destination in its own right.
I´d theorize that with Wizz Air pulling out, the government of Abu Dhabi is getting Etihad to step in to fill the gap, rather than Etihad seeing a new opportunity
Since when is there a SFO-AUH flight? Also, flydubai doesn't fly out of AUH... I think you're mixing up Emirates and Etihad 🙂
Can’t speak for the other destinations, but lots of point-to-point traffic between central Asian countries (Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan) and the UAE due to easy visa policies. Huge Uzbek and Kazakh diaspora in the UAE too. Though this group tends to be very price sensitive. Wizz Air used to offer the cheapest Tashkent - UAE flights, so much so that many Uzbeks flew wizz air to Abu Dhabi, and then took a bus to Dubai.
This is super good news. I'd been planning a trip to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and have some Guest Miles burning a hole in my pocket. This could be a great use for them to get to/from Tashkent.
This is super good news. I'd been planning a trip to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and have some Guest Miles burning a hole in my pocket. This could be a great use for them to get to/from Tashkent.
Are they part of the challenge?
I'd better fly to beautiful Tbilissi or Yerevan rather than Algiers or Peshawar...
Having visited Tashkent and Samarkand this spring on QR, this new link to Uzbekistan is great. My whole solo trip was impressive: friendly locals, delicious foods, affordable everything and fascinating Silk Road history. It’s been a long time since so many expectations were exceeded in a new destination.
Etihad has quite some history of serving both Almaty and Astana pre-pandemic years. It's in no way "a new destination" for them. But a lot has changed since then, disposable incomes plummeted and Etihad is a full service, premium airline. The local carrier - Air Astana - dropped the service earlier this year, having operated the route for couple of months
Some interesting additions. The Baku flight is an interesting one and I think will be welcomed given Azerbaijan’s land borders are still closed and AZAL very much has a monopoly on air travel in the country.
Tashkent and Almaty will almost certainly serve tourism demand to the broader UAE although I think capturing transit passengers will be a struggle. Turkish airlines and Pegasus have that pretty locked down demand wise and both usually have more attractive fares although I’m sure there there are some who might be willing to pay a premium to avoid the hellhole that is Sabiha Gökçen airport.
This growth is not sustainable. Feels like they are going back to their old ways. They have barely launched any of their original 10 destinations, and they have already planned 17 more cities. Does not feel like they are making business decisions when they announce these route launches. Feels like the government is just telling them to open these routes.
Etihad will also be flying to Krakow, Poland (KRK) - 3 times weekly starting in June 2026.