Historic Milestone: Etihad Airways Launches Six Daily Flights on Tel Aviv-Abu Dhabi Route

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, announces a historic milestone: for the first time since its establishment, the company will operate a regular flight route with six daily flights. The first route to cross the threshold of five daily flights, which currently includes cities such as Bangkok, Riyadh, and Mumbai, is the route between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, which will operate from June 15th with a schedule of 42 weekly flights.

"The decision to operate for the first time in Etihad's history a regular route of six daily flights specifically to Israel is a significant precedent, reflecting the company's commitment to deepening the aerial connection between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi and connecting Israel to the world through Etihad's global network," said Ran Polk, Manager of Etihad's operations in Israel.

Etihad's station in Israel, managed by Ran Polk under Mann Aviation, is currently ranked fifth among European countries in terms of activity volume, after Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. According to Polk, in 2025 more than 300,000 passengers flew from Israel to Abu Dhabi, with an average occupancy of about 90 percent. About 30 percent of the passengers chose to stop for a vacation in Abu Dhabi, while about 70 percent continued on connecting flights to the East.

The most sought-after onward destinations this year among those flying from Israel were Thailand, with an increase of 30 percent compared to last year, Tokyo with a jump of 250 percent, South Korea with a growth of 80 percent, and the Philippines with an increase of 70 percent.

The sixth flight on the route will be operated using an Airbus A321 aircraft with 188 seats. The new timetable includes a flight from Tel Aviv at 15:00 with a landing in Abu Dhabi at 19:15, and a return flight from Abu Dhabi at 08:45 with a landing in Israel at 11:00.

It should be noted that the cargo division of Ethihad Airways, Etihad Cargo, is represented in Israel by Rom Top and marketed through ACI, under the management of Moti Arbel. It should be noted that Etihad has continuously operated daily flights on the Tel Aviv-Abu Dhabi route since the beginning of its operations in Israel, using narrow-body aircraft, and during the Iron Dome war, flights were not interrupted even for one day.