Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will double its flights from Abu Dhabi to Erbil from September beginning. 

The present twice-weekly service will augment to four services per week, complementing Etihad’s daily operation to its other Iraqi destination, Baghdad.
                                                 
                                                                      

Etihad commenced two-class Airbus A320 operations to Erbil in June 2010, and the load factor on the route went beyond 80 per cent by May 2011. This additional capacity is aimed at meeting enduring high demand on Etihad’s Erbil flights.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer stated that they were committed to building and strengthening ties in their region. With these additional flights, Etihad will provide air travelers from around the world extensively improved connection opportunities through their Abu Dhabi hub as they continue to add breadth and depth through additional frequencies on key routes across their expanding global network. He said that they expect to see continuing strong demand on these routes, particularly from government and business travellers, as well as people from Iraq visiting family and friends around the world.