Etihad Airways’ seasonal network build-out reached its zenith on 19 June 2026 with the launch of twice-weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Nice. The new EY 37/38 rotation departs the UAE capital every Wednesday and Saturday at 09:15, arriving on the French Riviera just before 15:00 local time. Return sectors leave Nice at 17:15 and arrive in Abu Dhabi shortly after midnight, optimising onward connections across Asia-Pacific. The Nice route is one of nine destinations the carrier has added or reinstated this month, including Krakow, Palma de Mallorca, Zanzibar, Malaga, Mykonos and Santorini.
![Etihad inaugurates direct Abu Dhabi–Nice service as summer network peaks]()
Travelers looking to take advantage of these new routes but still needing to secure the appropriate travel documents can lean on VisaHQ for quick, online visa assistance. Through its dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/), the service walks passengers through the Schengen-visa process for France and other European destinations, manages courier pickup of passports, and provides real-time status updates—smoothing all the paperwork before they board EY 37.
According to Etihad’s network-planning team, overall summer capacity is up 10 percent year-on-year, surpassing pre-conflict seat counts for the first time since February’s regional escalation. For corporate mobility managers, the routing offers a convenient gateway to France’s aerospace cluster in Toulouse as well as Cannes’ year-round MICE calendar. Etihad is marketing special through-fares that combine the Nice sectors with onward codeshares on SNCF’s TGV network, enabling same-day rail connections to Lyon and Paris without back-tracking via Charles de Gaulle. To celebrate the launch, Etihad distributed limited-edition “Summer Essentials” amenity kits on the inaugural flight and filed promotional business-class fares starting at AED 10,995 return. Cargo marketers are equally upbeat; the Boeing 787-9 service adds 12 tonnes of weekly belly capacity ideal for UAE luxury-goods exporters targeting high-net-worth travellers along the Côte d’Azur.
Travelers looking to take advantage of these new routes but still needing to secure the appropriate travel documents can lean on VisaHQ for quick, online visa assistance. Through its dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/), the service walks passengers through the Schengen-visa process for France and other European destinations, manages courier pickup of passports, and provides real-time status updates—smoothing all the paperwork before they board EY 37.
According to Etihad’s network-planning team, overall summer capacity is up 10 percent year-on-year, surpassing pre-conflict seat counts for the first time since February’s regional escalation. For corporate mobility managers, the routing offers a convenient gateway to France’s aerospace cluster in Toulouse as well as Cannes’ year-round MICE calendar. Etihad is marketing special through-fares that combine the Nice sectors with onward codeshares on SNCF’s TGV network, enabling same-day rail connections to Lyon and Paris without back-tracking via Charles de Gaulle. To celebrate the launch, Etihad distributed limited-edition “Summer Essentials” amenity kits on the inaugural flight and filed promotional business-class fares starting at AED 10,995 return. Cargo marketers are equally upbeat; the Boeing 787-9 service adds 12 tonnes of weekly belly capacity ideal for UAE luxury-goods exporters targeting high-net-worth travellers along the Côte d’Azur.
