The UAE’s national airline is expanding its range of destinations, reflecting the country’s strong reputation in global tourism and business and new travel demand. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) forecasts passenger numbers to reach 140 million, reflecting the UAE airline’s continued growth and competitiveness.

This represents a 3.4% increase from 586 destinations at the end of 2023. The breakdown of destinations by airline is as follows: Emirates with over 144 destinations, Etihad with 79 destinations, flydubai with 125 destinations, Air Arabia with 218 destinations, and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi with 40 destinations.

Etihad Airways is expanding its route network with the aim of serving 125 cities by 2030. The airline hopes to increase its annual passenger numbers to 33 million by leveraging its strategic location between Asia and Europe.

Etihad Airways has been strengthening its network since the beginning of the year and plans to expand to more than 125 destinations by 2030. This expansion strategy aims to increase its annual passenger numbers to more than 33 million by leveraging its strategic location between Asia and Europe.

The airline plans to open several new destinations this year after launching 15 new routes last year, including Lisbon, Copenhagen, Kolkata and Osaka. Etihad Airways will also increase its flights to Thailand to 41 weekly flights from October and will resume its Nairobi service on December 15.

In the first seven months of 2024, Etihad Airways carried 10.4 million passengers, expanding its fleet from 78 in July 2023 to 93 aircraft by the end of July. The airline also recorded the addition of 10 new destinations to its network this year. . In the first half of 2024, Etihad Airways reported a 48% increase in net profit after tax to AED 851 million compared to the previous year, while revenue grew 21% to AED 11.7 billion.

Emirates currently operates a network of 144 passenger and cargo destinations across six continents and is continuously working to increase seat capacity to meet growing travel demand and provide flexibility and choice for travellers transiting through Dubai.

Emirates

Emirates will operate modernized Boeing 777 aircraft to Zurich and Riyadh in early October, with the aircraft also serving Geneva and Brussels. Emirates has completed the modernization of a further 80 Boeing 777 aircraft, as part of a more than $3 billion program to deliver industry-leading products and services and elevate passenger experience in the air to unprecedented levels.

flydubai

flydubai serves 125 destinations in 58 countries in Africa, Central Asia, Central and South-Eastern Europe, the Gulf, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, operated by a fleet of 88 Boeing 737 aircraft. flydubai recently launched four weekly scheduled flights to EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, becoming the first national airline to offer direct flights to the destination from Dubai.

This will expand its European network to 29 destinations, including Budapest, Catania, Krakow, Milan-Bergamo, Prague, Salzburg and Zagreb. The company expects to take delivery of seven aircraft by the end of the year and hire more than 130 new pilots to expand its network and add Basel, Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius to its destinations.

Air Arabia

The Air Arabia Group operates an extensive network of 218 destinations from six strategic hubs, including 113 in the United Arab Emirates, and bases in Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan. For the first half of 2024, the airline recorded a net profit of AED 693 million and carried 8.9 million passengers, up 16% year-on-year. Seat occupancy remained strong at 81%.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi

With a portfolio of 40 cities, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi continues to expand to meet growing demand with a modern and sustainable fleet and support the airline’s ambitious plans to tackle new challenges.