Summer is now in full swing at Etihad Airways, with the Abu Dhabi-based flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates having recently launched four routes in as many days. All served by narrowbodies, these new corridors link its main hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) with destinations in three different continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. This week will also see five seasonal routes restart.

This growth is emblematic of a wider trend at Etihad Airways, in that 2026 will be the carrier’s biggest summer ever, with more capacity and destinations than ever before. The airline has also added more than 20 aircraft to its fleet in order to drive this expansion, Etihad seemingly on the up after the uncertainty posed by regional tensions in the Middle East earlier in the year amid the Iran War.

Etihad Airways Has Returned To Damascus

Credit: Etihad Airways

June 14 saw the return of Etihad Airways’ flights to Damascus International Airport (DAM) in Syria. According to historical scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, its route there from its main hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport was last served back in 2012. As seen in the photo above, there was a celebratory mood to the inaugural flight on the newly relaunched route.

Flightradar24 data shows that the outbound leg on this service is blocked to take three hours and 20 minutes, while Etihad has penciled in three hours and ten minutes for the return. While the inaugural outbound leg ran on time, the first inbound service back to Abu Dhabi was almost two hours late, landing at 11:48 PM as opposed to 10:00 PM. Commenting on Etihad’s growth, CEO Antonoaldo Neves said:

“Today, Etihad is flying more guests to more destinations than ever before. We are operating more than 300 flights a day, carrying near-record loads. (…) We are delivering our most ambitious summer programme yet.”

Two New European Corridors

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Elsewhere, and further from home, Etihad Airways has also launched two new routes to destinations in Europe within the last week. The first of these took flight on Thursday, June 11, when its inaugural service from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK) lifted off. The carrier budgets six hours and 10 minutes flying west, and five hours and 40 minutes flying east.

A day later, Etihad Airways’ European expansion continued at pace with the launch of another new route, this time to Palma de Mallorca Son Sant Joan Airport (PMI) in Spain’s Balearic Islands. This is the longest of the airline’s new routes, with the westbound leg set to take seven hours and 20 minutes. Meanwhile, passengers flying eastbound can expect a quicker flight of six hours and 30 minutes.

Both of these routes, as well as the aforementioned new corridor to Damascus International Airport in Syria, utilize Airbus A321neo narrowbody twinjets. However, a key difference is the fact that Etihad Airways favors the A321LR model on the European pair, while Damascus is served by the standard A321neo. The A321LR has a lower-density 160-seat layout, compared to 198 seats on the A321neo.

Zanzibar Completes The List

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Etihad Airways’ fourth and final new route in its latest batch links its main hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport with Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ) in Zanzibar, a Tanzanian destination that is growing in popularity. The carrier last served this route back in 2023, and both the outbound and inbound legs are scheduled to take five hours and 40 minutes. On this route, Etihad uses the Airbus A320neo.

In its recent communications, Etihad has also been keen to highlight the fact that this summer will see it restart operations on five seasonal routes. The first two of these corridors got back up and running yesterday, linking Abu Dhabi to Malaga (AGP) and Mykonos (JMK), while today will see it restart flights to Santorini (JTR). Nice (NCE) will then be added on June 19, followed by Al Alamein (DBB) on July 16.