Etihad Airways

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Established in 2003, Etihad Airways (Arabic: الإتحاد‎, ʼal-ʻitiħād) is the flag carrier airline of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Etihad is based in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

'‘Etihad’' (Arabic for "united", "federation" or "union") is the Arabic abbreviation for الإمارات العربية المتحدة - United Arab Emirates. It operates services to the Middle East, Europe, Indian subcontinent, North America, Far East, Africa, and Oceania. Its main base is Abu Dhabi International Airport.^[1]

In 2008, it carried more than 6 million passengers, compared with 340,000 in its first full year of operations in 2004.

History

Etihad Airways was established as the national airline of the United Arab Emirates in July 2003 by a royal decree, issued by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It started with an initial paid-up capital of AED500 million. Services were launched with a ceremonial flight to Al Ain on November 5, 2003, and on November 12, 2003, Etihad started commercial operations with the launch of services to Beirut. In the months that followed, almost one new route was added per month. In 2008 Etihad carried more than 6 million passengers, compared to 4.6 million in 2007.

In June 2004 the airline flew the first direct flight from the UAE to Geneva followed by Brussels and Toronto in October 2005.