Etihad Airways has announced its biggest-ever expansion into Africa, adding six new direct routes from its Abu Dhabi hub to cities across West, East and Central Africa. The first flights are scheduled to begin in November 2026.
The new destinations
The six cities are Accra in Ghana, Asmara in Eritrea, Harare in Zimbabwe, Kinshasa and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lagos in Nigeria. The additions open up direct links between the UAE capital and several markets that have had limited or no non-stop access to the Gulf.
Lagos and Accra are among West Africa's largest commercial centres, while the Congolese cities sit at the heart of a fast-growing mining and resources economy — markets where demand for reliable long-haul connectivity has been rising.
Building the hub
The Africa push is part of a wider growth strategy under which Etihad has announced a string of new destinations across Europe, Central Asia and beyond, alongside capacity increases on existing routes. By adding African cities, the airline strengthens Abu Dhabi's position as a connecting point between Africa, Asia and Europe, allowing passengers to transit through Zayed International Airport to onward destinations.
For the UAE, deeper air links with Africa support trade, investment and tourism flows that have been growing as Gulf companies expand across the continent. New routes also feed Abu Dhabi's visitor economy, bringing business travellers, tourists and the diaspora through the capital. The expansion underlines how central network growth has become to Etihad's strategy as it scales up from its single-hub base and competes for connecting traffic with larger neighbours.