We know that Etihad Airways is looking at expanding significantly, as part of the carrier’s Journey 2030 plan. By the start of the next decade, the airline hopes to nearly double its fleet and number of destinations, so that’s a pretty lofty goal.
For the past several days, Etihad has been hinting that it would announce 10 new routes in a single day, its biggest expansion ever. After a fun teaser video a few days ago, the airline has today revealed the details of the expansion.
In this post:
Details of Etihad’s 10 new routes launching in 2025
Etihad Airways has announced plans to add 10 new routes. Prior to this, Etihad sold tickets to 83 destinations, so with these routes being put on sale, that number will increase to 93 destinations. This complements three new destinations that were already announced for 2025, including Al Alamein (DBB), Prague (PRG), and Warsaw (WAW).
Here are the 10 new destinations that will be served out of Abu Dhabi (AUH), including the launch dates, frequencies, and aircraft types:
- Atlanta, United States (ATL), 4x weekly as of July 2, 2025, using an Airbus A350-1000
- Taipei, Taiwan (TPE), daily as of September 7, 2025, using a Boeing 787-9
- Medan, Indonesia (KNO), 3x weekly as of October 2, 2025, using an Airbus A321LR
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia (PNH), 5x weekly as of October 3, 2025, using an Airbus A321LR
- Krabi, Thailand (KBV), daily as of October 9, 2025, using an Airbus A321LR
- Tunis, Tunisia (TUN), 3x weekly as of November 1, 2025, using an Airbus A321LR
- Chiang Mai, Thailand (CNX), 4x weekly as of November 3, 2025, using an Airbus A321LR
- Hanoi, Vietnam (HAN), daily as of November 3, 2025, using an Airbus A321LR
- Hong Kong (HKG), 5x weekly as of November 5, 2025, using a Boeing 787-9
- Algiers, Algeria (ALG), 4x weekly as of November 7, 2025, using an Airbus A321LR
Here’s how Etihad CEO Antonoaldo Neves describes this development:
“This expansion reflects our commitment to listening to our valued guests. We’ve carefully chosen cities that embody the experiences, adventures, and opportunities that matter to them. Whether seeking inspiring landscapes, vibrant cultural experiences, reuniting with family and friends, pursuing business growth, or educational journeys, our new routes will help make their travel dreams a reality.
“This moment is not just about expanding our network; it’s about sharing Abu Dhabi with the world. With its endless sunshine, diverse cuisine, rich culture, exhilarating family theme parks, and safe, beautiful beaches, Abu Dhabi offers something for everyone. Our expanded network will make it easier than ever for guests to experience everything our home city has to offer.
“Launching ten new destinations in a single day underscores our unwavering commitment to growing our airline with a fantastic route network and world-class, customer-focused service. This incredible milestone would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of our team and the ongoing support of our guests.”
Keep in mind that this is only the start of Etihad’s rapid expansion. The expectation is that in early 2025, the airline will announce service to another 20 destinations, meaning Etihad will add flights to around 30 new cities in a pretty short period of time. With this, Etihad expects that at some point in 2025, it’ll be bigger than it was in 2017 (after shrinking massively).
My take on Etihad’s big expansion announcement
I find Etihad’s expansion to be very interesting. It’s sort of predictable given Etihad’s fleet planning, though also differs greatly from what Gulf rivals are doing.
The Hong Kong and Taipei additions seem logical enough, and those will be flown by 787s, so I don’t have much to add there.
I am fascinating by Etihad making Atlanta its next destination in the United States, since that’s a Delta hub. Yes, Atlanta is a big market in and of itself, but I’ve long said that Delta and Etihad would benefit from a partnership, so I can’t help but wonder if there’s an imminent announcement there. I just have a hard time imagining the airline would otherwise independently end up in Atlanta, given how much smaller its North America network is than those of competitors.
As you can see, the rest of Etihad’s growth is entirely dependent on the carrier’s new Airbus A321LRs, which Etihad should start taking delivery of soon. I’ve gotta say, this jet is a really great strategic advantage for Etihad, as the plane will have a long range and flat beds in business class:
- Emirates only has wide body aircraft, greatly limiting the airports it can fly to; while the airline has a partnership with FlyDubai (which has 737s), it’s not exactly a seamless integration
- Qatar Airways also has narrow body planes, but the airline doesn’t have many latest generation ones, and they mostly don’t have flat beds; so the airline can’t easily use these interchangeably with wide body aircraft on longer routes
Etihad executives have been saying all along that the A321LR will largely be used to expand to secondary markets in Asia and Europe, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing (well, along with markets in Africa). Etihad better hope that these planes are all delivered on schedule, or there will be some issues.
Etihad tricked us with its teaser video!
With the new routes now being announced, I have to mention how Etihad clearly tried to throw us off with its teaser video about the route announcement. On Friday, the airline released a roughly 50-second clip, which reportedly contained 10 clues about the carrier’s 10 new destinations.
However, the airline totally threw us off. While some clues ended up being accurate, like for Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tunis, others seemed downright deceiving. There were also clues for Hamburg, Helsinki, Philadelphia, Stockholm, and more, but those didn’t materialize.
Are those routes just going to be announced at a later time, or what? I love these kinds of teaser videos, but it’s really odd for the airline to provide obvious clues, but for the routes to then not materialize.
Bottom line
Etihad has just announced 10 new routes, which will all launch in 2025, and bring the carrier’s network to 93 destinations. This is a very cool expansion, with new A350 flights to Atlanta, 787 flights to Hong Kong and Taipei, and then A321LR flights to a variety of destinations.
It’s cool to see how Etihad is using the A321LR — the airline will actually use it for medium haul routes that might not have enough demand for a wide body, but where an efficient narrow body does the trick. I’m looking forward to seeing how that strategy progresses as the airline takes delivery of more of these.
What do you make of Etihad’s 10 new routes?
Agreed with the conclusion. Either this was trolling, or they made some 'last minute changes', or they will post the video again for part 2.
Exciting new destinations, nevertheless! It's really a bit like the announcement by United, also because we'll be seeing the use of narrowbodies being utilized on 'secondary' routes, which otherwise possibly wouldn't have materialized. At least it's much more creative and exciting that anything Delta has cooked up this year. ;)
I can't help but think a number of these new routes (KBV, PNH, HAN, SGN, even CNX) are being driven by the numbers of Russians flocking to the region/SEA for investment/tourism/escaping the war/organized crime. Anyone familiar with Phuket, Sinhanoukville, Siem Reap, BKK, or anywhere in Vietnam will have noticed the influx and impact. Since late 2022, they boosted flights out of Moscow, and given that few will fly to Russia, they've got a nice market...
I can't help but think a number of these new routes (KBV, PNH, HAN, SGN, even CNX) are being driven by the numbers of Russians flocking to the region/SEA for investment/tourism/escaping the war/organized crime. Anyone familiar with Phuket, Sinhanoukville, Siem Reap, BKK, or anywhere in Vietnam will have noticed the influx and impact. Since late 2022, they boosted flights out of Moscow, and given that few will fly to Russia, they've got a nice market to exploit along with Turkish.
CNX on a narrowbody is a brilliant move IMHO. European tourists will get the one-stop option to Northern Thailand, without forcefully flying to BKK first. I don't think that would generate a lot of premium traffic, but the aircraft type should be profitable enough just flying the backpacker crowds.
Bogota to Doha it’s missing from the list
Whomst do we have to bribe to get an Arab Gulf carrier such as Etihad to add Denver?
Such a bummer that there's still no central or western US flights. As much as I want to try out their apartments, it's unappealing to take a transcon to get there, and less appealing to go to Europe to get to connecting points in Asia.
Lot’s of long flights on a 321. Not great.
much better than no flight at all
Somebody is not happy that the 35K is coming to ATL but not operated by Atlanta's hometown airline
YAY ATL!
Are you going to revisit how Aeroplan still blocks Etihad awards (and NH, and TH, and OZ, and CA....)
Disappointed the EY destination proved to be ATL instead of PHL... I can do QR on ATL-DOH, but flying PHL-DOH on American is not fun, and an EY option would be amazing
My airport (ATL) is getting Etihad Airways, this is sign that more airlines wants to come and start service. Hopefully Emirates comes in not long after. Along with Emirates, I hope China Eastern, Saudia, and Tap Air Portugal start service to Atlanta in the near future.
My airport (ATL) is getting Etihad Airways, this is sign that more airlines wants to come and start service. Hopefully Emirates comes in not long after. Along with Emirates, here are my short lists of airlines that the ATL should gain.
China Eastern Airlines
China Airlines
Saudia
TAP Air Portugal
Any routes that I missed, add them to list.
Etihad launching HAN and PNH is simply AWESOME as far as I’m concerned, given that both EK and QR have served Vietnam and Cambodia for a long time — and, in fact, I recently flew QR’s fifth-freedom from PNH to SGN, similar to EK’s fifth-freedom from PNH to SIN. Funnily enough EY didn’t pick SGN now as its Vietnamese destination, choosing HAN instead. Many were talking about Da Nang (DAD) but it would’ve been completely...
Etihad launching HAN and PNH is simply AWESOME as far as I’m concerned, given that both EK and QR have served Vietnam and Cambodia for a long time — and, in fact, I recently flew QR’s fifth-freedom from PNH to SGN, similar to EK’s fifth-freedom from PNH to SIN. Funnily enough EY didn’t pick SGN now as its Vietnamese destination, choosing HAN instead. Many were talking about Da Nang (DAD) but it would’ve been completely odd to see EY serve DAD but not the two major Vietnamese cities.
KBV and CNX in Thailand were served by QR prepandemic, alongside U-Tapao/Pattaya (UTP), but haven’t returned since, so it’s nice to see EY take the fight to QR there. Meanwhile, KNO in Indonesia is completely left-field, since QR couldn’t make Medan work and had to suspend the route.
HKG and TPE were long missing from the EY roster, and while the former was obvious, the latter is more of a nice-to-have, given that QR doesn’t serve TPE either.
I’m not going to comment on ATL, ALG or TUN since the Asian routes are more relevant and interesting to me. However, EY’s sub-Saharan African network remains extremely sparse, with the likes of LOS, ADD and CPT all missing. I think Etihad doesn’t care about Africa.
Re: EY's sub-Saharan network, definitely a missed opportunity, but hopeful that Etihad can add to that going forward. ADD is only 4h or so away from AUH, which makes it relatively easy to add with a narrowbody, and AUH-LOS could work on the A321LR as well
TPE will be interesting for EY in particular because TPE is generally seen as having low premium demand to the Middle East (Emirates flies their 615-seat 2-class A380 there,...
Re: EY's sub-Saharan network, definitely a missed opportunity, but hopeful that Etihad can add to that going forward. ADD is only 4h or so away from AUH, which makes it relatively easy to add with a narrowbody, and AUH-LOS could work on the A321LR as well
TPE will be interesting for EY in particular because TPE is generally seen as having low premium demand to the Middle East (Emirates flies their 615-seat 2-class A380 there, the only Asian destination exclusively served by that configuration)
@Proximanova
"my username is an ordinary, no-frills Air India A320neo, and not a luxurious A380 or something, because international travel can sometimes consist of very non-glamorous products and it’s your choice to accept them or not."
You, by very name of Proximanova or VT-CIE at that time, said that you've gotta suck it up sometimes.
If there's no EY or QR or EK or something of that kind, you've gotta take it and accept...
@Proximanova
"my username is an ordinary, no-frills Air India A320neo, and not a luxurious A380 or something, because international travel can sometimes consist of very non-glamorous products and it’s your choice to accept them or not."
You, by very name of Proximanova or VT-CIE at that time, said that you've gotta suck it up sometimes.
If there's no EY or QR or EK or something of that kind, you've gotta take it and accept the discomfort, because it seems like you seem to like to do so, at least when it comes to certain carriers but not to some others.
Why don't you do it first, before lecturing others?
You may start upholding your wisdom, by flying Thai 777-200 or Cathay regional business or China Airlines A330 and "visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)".
Note that every single startegy is your own, not mine.
Shouldn't been acting hypocrite-ish if you didn't want to get to this stage.
Peace.
Interesting to see if EY can make KNO works with a narrow body when QR failed with 788. Although not a premium yield route, the route is surely appealing to the sizeable west Indonesian expats community working in the Middle East who now don't have to backtrack to/from Jakarta to get to Medan.
Ugh, was really hoping for a return to either SFO or LAX! :-(
I also think we are seeing the beginnings of an alignment with the SkyTeam, it’s going to be interesting watching this develop.
If DL decides to align with both Etihad and the Saudi carriers, what will really happen is that DL will take a huge leap forward in the Middle East and will bypass its competitors.
Don't forget that DL is just waiting for the shooting to stop to come up w/ a JV w/ El Al.
and the original peace talks that were reportedly nearing finalizing between Saudi Arabia and Israel in October 2023...
If DL decides to align with both Etihad and the Saudi carriers, what will really happen is that DL will take a huge leap forward in the Middle East and will bypass its competitors.
Don't forget that DL is just waiting for the shooting to stop to come up w/ a JV w/ El Al.
and the original peace talks that were reportedly nearing finalizing between Saudi Arabia and Israel in October 2023 could well now move forward and have enormous implications for Middle East aviation.
I very much doubt the Saudi negotiations will resume anytime soon, from what Iam reading they are moving to normalise relations with Iran which will freeze out Israel.
who is to say that Saudi Arabia doesn't become the integrator of all relations in the Middle East.... the US and esp. Trump would love to have the Middle East control the Middle East.
If Saudi is capable of having a relationship with Israel and Iran, they should be able to figure out how to play the middle man
I wish I could share your optimism and really hope Saudi could be a bridge to peace in the region, however with Tehran yet again over the weekend threatening a further response against Israel to try and re establish “deterrence” I fear that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and a hit against Irans nuclear facilities will be carried out in short order.
Etihad has no interline agreement with Delta.
this is why these teaser announcements make no sense..... all they do is create excitement for an announcement.
These new routes all show that Etihad intends to compete with the much larger global carriers around it. We need only look at smaller ME carriers to see that you either have to grow quickly and successfully or you get relegated to the 3rd tier - there is no middle tier in the Middle East.
The buildup...
this is why these teaser announcements make no sense..... all they do is create excitement for an announcement.
These new routes all show that Etihad intends to compete with the much larger global carriers around it. We need only look at smaller ME carriers to see that you either have to grow quickly and successfully or you get relegated to the 3rd tier - there is no middle tier in the Middle East.
The buildup in SE Asia is notable.
ATL is only a mild surprise. As much as people want to characterize it, Atlanta is a huge global city now and is becoming more diverse by the day.
Being a DL hub doesn't stop non-DL aligned carriers to be successful there. QR and TK have been flying to ATL for years and Etihad obviously sees the volume that they carry. Yields may or may not be another thing but those carriers are much lower cost than DL because of low labor rates.
This just simply says that DL's dual partnership with Saudi Arabia is needed to help give DL a piece of the ME market knowing that there are and will be other players that can succeed w/ or w/o DL.
How much sway or influence do you think Delta holds over new airlines being allowed to fly to Atlanta? I think the Emirates spat a few years ago has everyone convinced they have a ton of influence.
Same question with lounges - if Phoenix and SD can get a Chase lounge surely Atlanta can get one too?
clearly DL has no influence in what other airlines do at ATL.
The whole reason why ATL gets a bad wrap is because B6 complained that they had gates on separate concourses and thought they were being singled out because of DL when no airline is promised multiple gates in the same location at any airport unless you have a longer term commitment.
QR made noise because they subbed in their 380 on...
clearly DL has no influence in what other airlines do at ATL.
The whole reason why ATL gets a bad wrap is because B6 complained that they had gates on separate concourses and thought they were being singled out because of DL when no airline is promised multiple gates in the same location at any airport unless you have a longer term commitment.
QR made noise because they subbed in their 380 on their launch flight and ATL has only one or 2 380 capable gates and those gates were already assigned.
DL's spat was w/ all of the ME airlines. Whether DL thinks the issue is resolved or they just decided "if you can't beat them, join them" with the dual Saudi codeshare, the result will be the same - which is that DL will have a piece of the Middle East market and will do it with players that give DL far greater influence than AA or UA have with their Middle East partners.
That video had some insane trolling with its misdirects. Liberty Bell but no Philly, DAD sticker but no Da Nang, City of Kings but no Lima or Krakow, White City but no Helsinki, no Hamburg after that book cover and I'm sure a bunch of other ones I'm missing.
Makes me wonder if these were all just red herrings, or if EY is long-gaming it by pre-teasing more destinations as part of the 20 or so they're meant to be announcing steadily next year.
Wild that the video dropped so many clues to destinations that did not materialize.
Besides a Delta partnership, the only thing I can think of for Atlanta is cargo AND a contract with CNN, which is based in Atlanta and also has a significant presence is Abu Dhabi. But even then I can't imagine CNN is filling a plane, especially with their budget cuts.
Sweet, I get to read this stupid comment twice.
There are tons of companies HQ’d in Atlanta and they have offices worldwide.
Home Depot, Equifax, Coca Cola, UPS, Delta etc
Many more companies have offices here too and if you want to visit offices elsewhere you can fly direct from here.
I would think most of these companies have an IT office in India and folks will travel there straight from Atlanta.