Etihad’s new Red Sea flight from Abu Dhabi, day by day
Etihad starts flying to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast on 4 October, its sixth destination in the kingdom. The opening three weeks are Sundays only, with the Thursday flight joining on 25 October. One aircraft works both legs and heads home the same afternoon.
Which other airlines fly to the Red Sea
Etihad’s flight becomes the only UAE nonstop once flydubai stops selling its Dubai service in late October. Saudia flies from Riyadh every day, so a connection there beats waiting for a Sunday.
Where to stay on the Red Sea
Wego lists three resorts at the destination, and every one is five-star. That is the whole choice, so the rate is the decision rather than the shortlist. The InterContinental comes in at under half the price of either of the others.
Questions
When does Etihad start flying to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea?
Etihad’s first flight to Red Sea International Airport leaves Abu Dhabi on 4 October 2026. It runs once a week, on Sundays, and a second weekly flight is added on Thursdays from 25 October. The airline says the route is year-round from the start. If you follow Etihad’s network, our Etihad Airways news page tracks its route changes.
How long is the flight from Abu Dhabi to the Red Sea?
About three and a half hours. Flight EY621 is scheduled at 3h 20m outbound on the winter timetable, and EY622 takes 3h 05m coming home. Both legs are flown by an Airbus A320, and the same aircraft turns round at the coast the same afternoon.
What is the shortest Red Sea trip Etihad’s schedule allows?
Seven nights until late October, then three. While there is one flight a week you can only leave on a Sunday and come back on a Sunday, so a week is the floor. Once the Thursday flight starts on 25 October, a Thursday-to-Sunday break of three nights becomes possible, and so do stays of 4, 7, 10 and 11 nights.
Can I fly to the Red Sea from Dubai instead?
Only until late October. flydubai flies FZ927 from Dubai three times a week, on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and we found no seats on sale beyond 24 October 2026. After that Abu Dhabi is the only UAE airport with a nonstop, so check the Dubai service is still running before you plan a winter trip around it.
How much does a Red Sea trip from Abu Dhabi cost?
The room is much the larger part of it. Etihad fares start at AED 2,651 return for one adult, and that figure did not move across any trip length we priced, so the airfare is not what decides how long you go for. Rooms start at AED 3,222 a night for two sharing at the InterContinental, and the two luxury resorts run to several times that. Both are snapshots taken on 9 September 2026 and change constantly.
Sources
- Etihad Airways newsroom, the launch date, the frequency step-up, the aircraft and the cabin layout, published 8 September 2026.
- Etihad on X, the same announcement, posted 9 September 2026.
- Wego flight search, sampled 9 September 2026 in AED: the flight numbers, times, aircraft, operating days and return fare.
- Wego hotel search, sampled 9 September 2026 in AED: the resorts, guest scores and nightly rates.
How these figures were produced
- A route launch has no travel window of its own, so nothing here is priced to fixed dates. Fares and rates are sampled snapshots, and every link opens a live search you set your own dates on.
- Wego’s published timetable returns nothing at all for Abu Dhabi to Red Sea International, so the Etihad schedule was rebuilt from live nonstop inventory, queried one date at a time for economy, one adult, a single airline per trip. Every day of the launch weeks was checked, not only the days we expected to find.
- The other airlines’ timetable records carried period end dates of 6, 20 and 25 October, all before the winter schedule changeover, so their operating days were re-verified the same way against a November week. Qatar Airways turned out to fly three days rather than the two the timetable listed.
- flydubai returned no nonstop seats from Dubai on 25 October, 12 November or 10 December, while 22 and 24 October were both still available. We report that as no seats on sale beyond 24 October rather than as a withdrawal, because a schedule can be reloaded.
- The return fare was identical on all four trip lengths sampled, at 7 nights before the step-up and at 3, 4 and 7 nights after it. The flat figure is a measured result, not a placeholder.
- Room rates come from a single search over one three-night midweek window, quoted as a per-night “from” figure for two adults sharing. The stay block carries no trip-length control and no total, because every card opens a dateless property page: pricing a fixed number of nights would have committed you to a stay the link does not carry. Local tourism fees are billed separately by the property and are not included.
- The destination has three properties in Wego’s inventory and all three are five-star, so no rating floor was applied and none was needed. The InterContinental carries no guest score yet, which is why its card says so instead of showing one.
- Cancellation and refund terms are not stated on the cards. The rate feed carries them, but its accuracy is known to vary in both directions, so they are left to the booking page.
- Currency is AED because the page prices journeys from one origin market, Abu Dhabi. The hotel rates were collected in AED rather than converted from an earlier pass.
Disclaimer: We’ve worked hard to make sure the information in this article is as accurate and up to date as possible at the time of publishing. Travel details such as prices, schedules, visa rules, and entry requirements can change at short notice, so it remains your responsibility to verify the current details with official sources before you book or travel. Wego accepts no liability for any loss or inconvenience arising from the use of this content.
