Airlines based in the UAE are adding a run of new direct routes between late September and the end of the year, many of them suited to winter breaks. Etihad leads the list, with Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast from 4 October, Luxembourg from 21 October, Calgary from 3 November, and Gothenburg and Bucharest from 17 December. Emirates is due to open Helsinki on 1 October, flydubai is scheduled to start flying to Pokhara in Nepal on 23 September, and Air Arabia adds four European cities from Sharjah in mid-December.
For travellers in the Gulf, the cooler months are the season for trips both short and long, and a non-stop service changes the arithmetic. A direct flight turns a long weekend into a realistic plan. It also removes the connection that so often decides whether a family trip feels easy or tiring.
The routes below run from the nearest to the furthest, with a summary of dates at the end. All are based on airline announcements and The National's route tracker as of this week. Schedules can change, so confirm with the airline before booking.
Close to home: the Red Sea
Etihad's Abu Dhabi to Red Sea International service, scheduled from 4 October, is the shortest of the new routes, at a little over three hours. It starts once a week and is due to become twice weekly from 25 October, on an Airbus A320 with eight Business and 150 Economy seats. The Red Sea will be Etihad's sixth destination in Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Medina and Al Qassim, and The National reports that the route will run year-round.
The airport serves the north-western coast in Tabuk Province. According to Etihad, more than 90 islands lie offshore in shallow water, above reefs that form part of one of the world's largest coral systems, with turtles, dolphins and rays in the lagoons. Resorts are small and spread along the coast, and the days are for diving, sailing and trips into the lava fields and mountains inland.
Europe: Helsinki, Luxembourg, Gothenburg and Bucharest
Emirates is scheduled to start a daily, year-round Dubai to Helsinki service on 1 October, its first route to Finland, using the Airbus A350 with Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins. In winter, Finland means snow, frozen lakes and, further north in Lapland, the chance of seeing the Northern Lights.
Etihad follows with Luxembourg on 21 October and says it will be the first Middle Eastern airline to fly there. The old quarters and fortifications of Luxembourg City are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In December, Etihad adds two more European cities on the same day. Gothenburg, on Sweden's west coast, is due from 17 December with four flights a week on the single-aisle Airbus A321LR. It was planned as a winter-only service, but Etihad said in early September that strong early bookings had led it to keep the route running year-round. The National points to the city's seafood markets and the Christmas lights at Liseberg, its amusement park.
Bucharest, the Romanian capital, is also scheduled from 17 December, with four flights a week. Through Etihad's partnership with the Romanian airline TAROM, travellers will be able to book a single ticket onwards from Bucharest to Romanian cities such as Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara, as well as Belgrade, Budapest, Chisinau and Sofia, with bags checked through.
Across the Atlantic and up to the Himalayas
The longest new route is Etihad's Abu Dhabi to Calgary, scheduled from 3 November with four flights a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, on a Boeing 787-9. Etihad describes it as the first non-stop link between the Middle East and Western Canada. Flight EY29 is due to leave Abu Dhabi at 08:45 and land in Calgary at 12:20 local time, about 14 and a half hours later. Calgary is the usual gateway to Banff and Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies.
In the other direction, flydubai's daily Dubai to Pokhara service is scheduled from 23 September. The National reports that flydubai will be the first carrier to fly direct to Nepal's second-largest city. Pokhara sits beside Phewa Lake and is the lakeside base for Annapurna treks and for views of the high Himalayas.
From Sharjah, and more time in Zanzibar
Air Arabia is adding four cities from Sharjah in quick succession. Gdansk, on Poland's Baltic coast, is due from 14 December with five flights a week. Frankfurt follows on 15 December and Düsseldorf on 16 December, both daily, and Katowice in southern Poland on 17 December. The National notes that Krakow is about an hour from Katowice by train.
Two more changes are worth knowing. Etihad's seasonal Zanzibar service, which was due to end on 6 September, has been extended to 31 March because of strong demand. And Etihad's daily flights to Tashkent, which began on 10 August, give the Uzbek capital a direct link to Abu Dhabi in time for the cooler months, with Samarkand and Bukhara reachable from the city by rail.
The dates at a glance
- 23 September: flydubai, Dubai to Pokhara, daily
- 1 October: Emirates, Dubai to Helsinki, daily
- 4 October: Etihad, Abu Dhabi to Red Sea International, weekly, then twice weekly from 25 October
- 21 October: Etihad, Abu Dhabi to Luxembourg
- 3 November: Etihad, Abu Dhabi to Calgary, four a week
- 14 December: Air Arabia, Sharjah to Gdansk, five a week
- 15 and 16 December: Air Arabia, Sharjah to Frankfurt and to Düsseldorf, daily
- 17 December: Etihad, Abu Dhabi to Gothenburg and to Bucharest, four a week each; Air Arabia, Sharjah to Katowice
Several of these routes start within weeks of each other, and launch timetables are often adjusted in the first months. Book with some flexibility, check the schedule again shortly before travel, and the new map of non-stop flights from the UAE opens up a winter of easier journeys.
Sources: The National, Etihad Airways, Etihad Airways, Etihad Airways, Gulf News, Gulf News