Etihad Slashes Flights, Pulls Airbus A380 Off Two Routes (Including Toronto)

Etihad Airways has just filed a major schedule update for early 2027, impacting a couple of dozen routes. In isolation, you might not think much of this, as the first several weeks of the year have weaker demand in many markets. However, in light of what’s going on in Etihad’s commercial division, I can’t help but be curious if there’s a bit more to this, and wonder how things will evolve.

Etihad reduces capacity in many markets in early 2027

AeroRoutes reports on how Abu Dhabi-based Etihad has filed a schedule change for the first quarter of 2027, with most of the changes taking place for flights as of January 11, 2027. For the most part, the reductions are for around a couple of months, through March 2027. There are two ways to look at this:

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• This could just reflect that January (at least after the first week) and February tend to be pretty slow months for long haul travel
• This could more accurately reflect the reality of the reduced demand Etihad is currently dealing with, given geopolitical issues, but the airline is only progressively making schedule changes, and these could be extended into the spring as well

The frequency reductions we’re seeing are pretty significant. Just to look at service to North America:

• Boston (BOS) flights are being reduced from 7x weekly to 4x weekly
• Charlotte (CLT) flights are being reduced from 7x weekly to 4x weekly
• Chicago (ORD) flights are being reduced from 5x weekly to 4x weekly
• Toronto (YYZ) flights are being downgraded from the A380 to the A350

Specific to the A380, it seems that Etihad is taking the jet off the Toronto and Singapore (SIN) routes over that period, and it doesn’t seem like the super jumbo will be flying any other routes in place of that, at least based on current schedule filings. During that period, Etihad will only be flying the A380 to four destinations — Bangkok (BKK), London (LHR), Paris (CDG), and Tokyo Narita (NRT).

I’m curious how Etihad’s commercial strategy evolves

It’s a fascinating time for Etihad. Obviously Gulf carriers are having a rather difficult time with everything going on in the region at the moment, and it comes at a unique time for Etihad, as the carrier has been going through a massive expansion.

Now, I’ve been a bit skeptical about the claimed economics of this expansion, but Etihad management has insisted everything couldn’t be better… until Etihad Chief Commercial Officer Arik De recently “departed” the airline.

The can of worms that this departure opened is truly unlike anything I’ve seen at any airline before… and I’ve been following this industry for a long time. Seriously, check out the 520+ comments on my post about his departure, because employees have a lot to say. It’s so salacious that it has gotten OMAAT blocked in the UAE.

The point is, if even a quarter of the things are to be believed — and I’ve had some very interesting conversations with some formerly very high up people at the airline — then the carrier’s entire commercial strategy has been a bit questionable, to put it politely, and more about serving a certain someone’s LinkedIn profile ego, rather than actually developing a commercial strategy.

So with him no longer there, I’m curious to see how this all evolves. Let me emphasize that this is of course in no way a knock on all the hardworking employees at Etihad who have had to endure this “leadership” for too long. It seems like they now have quite the web to untangle, especially given the toxic people who are reportedly still there.

Bottom line

Etihad Airways has just filed a pretty big schedule change for early 2027, whereby a couple of dozen routes are seeing significant capacity reductions. Most notably, the Airbus A380 is being taken off of both the Toronto and Singapore routes.

In isolation, you might not think much of this, as demand is often a little lighter earlier in the year. But what I find interesting is that this follows a period of very rapid expansion, along with the carrier’s head of commercial strategy getting the boot.

Based on what I’ve heard from a countless number of current and former Etihad management employees, the strategy of the past couple of years hasn’t been as sound as a certain someone has tried to make it appear. We’ll see how this all unravels.

What do you make of this Etihad schedule change, and how do you see things playing out?