On 10 September 2026 Etihad Airways said it will begin flying from Abu Dhabi to Red Sea International Airport (RSI) on Saudi Arabia's western coast from 4 October. The Red Sea is the Kingdom's flagship luxury coastline, and for travellers who prefer to move privately, a short flight of just over three hours turns Abu Dhabi into the gateway for a two-country itinerary.
What Etihad announced
The route starts on 4 October with one flight a week, rising to twice weekly from 25 October, and runs year-round. Etihad will use an Airbus A320 with eight Business and 150 Economy seats. The flight takes just over three hours, and the Red Sea becomes Etihad's sixth destination in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Medina and Al Qassim.
Chief executive Antonoaldo Neves framed the launch around the arrival experience: "The holiday starts on the day guests arrive, not the day after." Through Etihad's Abu Dhabi Stopover, a guest can spend several days in the capital before continuing on, building a single trip out of two very different places.
Why it matters for a private trip
For an unhurried private visit to the UAE, this adds a natural onward chapter. You can anchor several days in Abu Dhabi — the Saadiyat museums, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Qasr Al Watan, a premium car with a personal guide — then fly to the Red Sea's low-density resorts without routing back through a major hub.
The value here is in the logistics rather than the flight itself. A two-destination plan needs the Abu Dhabi portion timed to the weekly departures, with transfers arranged privately at both ends. We can shape the capital leg so it closes cleanly on a departure day, keeping the whole journey calm and self-contained.
A short, year-round link puts Saudi Arabia's luxury coast within a single connection of Abu Dhabi — a clean way to extend a private UAE trip into a wider Gulf journey.
