‍CALGARY — Etihad Airways (EY) has announced a brand-new route from its home in Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Calgary (YYC), the first-ever nonstop link between Alberta and the UAE and currently the only non-stop between the Middle East and all of Western Canada.

The new flight, EY29/EY30, will operate four times weekly beginning November 3, leaving AUH at 08:45, arriving in Calgary at 12:20, a flight scheduled at 14 hours and 35 minutes. The return leaves YYC at 18:05, landing in AUH at 19:00 the following day after 13 hours and 55 minutes. The new route will be operated by the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, of which they have 37 and 4 on order.

The 787s on this new route will feature 28 business-class seats and 262 economy-class seats, for a total of 290 passengers. This is Etihad’s second-most-dense three configuration, and the most common on the 787-9.

The announcement comes after the government of Canada added slots for UAE and Saudi carriers to fly to Canadian airports. The UAE was granted 35 weekly flights, up from 21, while Saudi Arabia was allowed 14, up from four. Emirates (EK) already serves Toronto (YYZ) and Montreal (YUL) daily, while Etihad serves Toronto daily, totaling 21 weekly flights and zero available slots before the new agreement. Saudia (SV) used all four of its slots on its Jeddah (JED) to Toronto service.

Antonoaldo Neves, Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, said: “The launch of our Abu Dhabi–Calgary service is both a significant and historic step in EY’s global expansion. By creating the only nonstop link between the Middle East and Western Canada, we are opening new opportunities for trade, tourism, and investment, while giving travellers direct access to two distinctive and globally important destinations.”

Meanwhile, President and CEO of Calgary Airports, Chris Dinsdale, stated: “Calgary Airports is proud to partner with Etihad Airways to link two great cities. This direct route is key to connecting our region’s leisure and business travellers to important locations in the Middle East, as well as a wealth of linked destinations in Africa, Asia, and around the world.”

Calgary on the World Stage

Calgary Airport has made some major additions to its global network to start the year.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of WestJet’s (WS) own announcement of non-stop service to São Paulo, Brazil, the first direct connection between YYC and South America. The route also represents WestJet’s 100th destination from its home in Calgary.

The city now has non-stop passenger flights to 107 unique destinations in 22 countries and 4 continents, served by 16 airlines, with nearly 94% of them operated by WestJet. 14 of these destinations are also notably outside of North America.

Commenting on today’s route announcement, Alberta’s Minister of Tourism and Sport, Andrew Boitchenko, said: “This new direct route between Calgary and Abu Dhabi strengthens Calgary’s role as an international hub, making it easier for more visitors to discover Alberta’s unique landscapes and warm hospitality. It reinforces Alberta’s position as one of Canada’s leading travel destinations, creates jobs, supports local businesses, and grows the visitor economy.”

On top of just the network, YYC has had steady passenger growth since the pandemic. An estimated 20.8 million passengers passed through the airport in 2025, an increase of around 1.7 million over the previous year, including a Canada-wide dip in transborder traffic to the United States of around 20%.

Calgary is Etihad’s second Canadian destination from Abu Dhabi after Toronto, a route it had flown with the Airbus A380 since it took over from the A350-1000 in June.

Slots, Connections

Of the 35 allocated slots for UAE carriers, 17 weekly frequencies remain up for grabs between EK, EY, and flydubai (FZ), as 787-9s join their fleets later this year.

The next two largest markets behind Toronto and Montreal in the east are Vancouver (YVR) and Calgary in the west, neither of which was served by any Middle Eastern carriers before today. Vancouver remains Canada’s largest untapped market for the Middle East.

Air Canada launched non-stop flights to Dubai (DXB) from Vancouver in October 2023 with its 787-9. The route was pulled from its schedule in September 2025. The X4 and later X3 weekly flights were designed to feed Emirates’ network from western Canada, but Russian airspace restrictions made the route disadvantageous.

This is what makes UAE carriers ideal for the Canadian market.

Canadian airlines aren’t allowed to fly in Russian airspace, which is a huge problem if you want to get from somewhere far up in the northern hemisphere to somewhere geographically directly south of Russia. UAE airlines, on the other hand, can use Russian airspace, allowing for greater range and shorter flight times, which is especially important for a city like Calgary, which is 3,600 feet above sea level and gets quite warm in the summertime.

In addition to a direct flight, WS has an interline agreement with Etihad, while Emirates has codeshare agreements with both WS and Air Canada (AC), which explains the feeder flight from Vancouver.

At the 2025 Dubai Air Show just last November, AC and EK even expanded a strategic partnership that they launched in 2022, extending it until the end of 2032.

With 17 more weekly flights up for grabs among UAE airlines, it will be interesting to see what network news comes next.