Aviation

Etihad to reveal new destinations

November 18, 2024, 7:34 PM

Etihad tiktok — Etihad revealed El Alamein as one of its new destinations last month

Locations unveiled on November 25
Boost to 93 destinations
Link with Virgin to end

Etihad Airways is preparing to announce 10 new destinations next week, in one of the airline’s largest network expansions in years.

The ambitious Abu Dhabi-based airline will reveal the locations on November 25, after a TikTok teaser campaign.

Etihad sells tickets to 83 destinations, and has added Prague, Warsaw and El Alamein in Egypt to its network this year.

The airline has already announced that it will offer daily services to Dusseldorf in Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark from October 1 2025.

Antonoaldo Neves, Etihad’s chief executive officer, said: “Etihad is accelerating its growth strategy with an impressive announcement of 10 new destinations on a single day.”

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The airline launched the TikTok teaser to promote the announcement on Monday, with more clues to the new destinations to be given in a video to be released on Friday November 22, giving customers the weekend to make some more guesses before the announcement on November 25.

On the same day that Etihad teased the new destinations, the company also announced that it would be ending its bilateral partnerships with Virgin Australia, effective from June 1 2025.

“The decision reflects a divergence in the strategic direction of the respective airlines,” Etihad said.

In October Qatar Airways, one of Etihad’s competitors, announced it was buying a 25 percent share in Virgin Australia from the US private equity firm Bain Capital.

In the first three quarters of 2024 Etihad reported a two thirds increase in profit after higher passenger and cargo revenue.

Passenger numbers rose 35 percent, and profit after tax for the period reached $381 million (AED1.4 billion), up 72 percent from $222 million a year earlier. Total revenue was up 21 percent to $5 billion.