Download Etihad Airways Logo — Etihad Airways is an airline of the United Arab Emirates with its headquarters in the capital city of Abu Dhabi . Operates routes to the Middle East , Europe , Asia , Australia , as well as to North America . Its main base is Abu Dhabi International Airport . The airline began commercial operations in November 2003. In early 2006, the airline celebrated the launch of its 30th international destination in a period of 30 months, including Brussels , Johannesburg and Toronto . Sixteen new destinations York were added in 2006.
The frequencies were increased in the most popular routes such as Abu Dhabi-Paris. Etihad hopes to fly to 70 destinations throughout the world by 2010. Etihad Airways was established as the national airline of the UAE in July 2003 by a royal decree signed by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of Armed Forces UAE. Soon after, Dr. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan was appointed Chairman of the airline.
With its base in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, started with an initial capital of 500 million dirham. The services were opened with a flight to the oasis city of Al Ain in the emirate of Abu Dhabi , on November 5, 2003. A week later, on November 12, 2003, Etihad started commercial operations with the launch of service to Beirut .