Etihad Adds Atlanta Flight: Is A Delta Partnership Imminent?

Etihad unveiled 10 new routes today, but the one that most caught my eye was new service to Atlanta starting in 2025, which is a mega-hub for Delta Air Lines. Did Etihad simply see an opening in Atlanta to earn money or might a new partnership with Delta be coming soon?

Etihad Announces New Service To Atlanta – Is A Delta Partnership Coming?

Etihad will launch a new 4x weekly flight between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and Atlanta (ATL) starting on July 2, 2025. The flight will operate with the following schedule:

• EY13 Abu Dhabi (AUH) – Atlanta (ATL) dep 9:30 AM arr 4:30 PM
• EY14 Atlanta (ATL) – Abu Dhabi (AUH) dep 10:00 PM arr 7:30 PM+1

This new service will be operated by an Airbus A350-1000 aircraft (review here) and run in both directions on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The 7,609-mile flight is scheduled for 15 hours traveling from Abu Dhabi to Atlanta and 13.5 hours in the other direction.

The obvious question is whether Etihad’s choice to operate to Atlanta may be linked to a partnership with Delta Air Lines? I’ll make an argument why the answer may be yes and why the answer may be no.

A Delta – Etihad Partnership Would Make Sense

Atlanta offers a wealth of connecting traffic that could make Etihad’s service even more profitable and help to fill planes without having to discount pricing. More importantly, Delta does not have a partnership with one of the “Big 3” in the Middle East. United Airlines partners with Emirates and American Airlines partners with Qatar Airways, but Etihad currently is merely just a secondary partner of American.

While Delta has announced its intention to fly to Saudi Arabia and work more closely with Riyadh Air and Saudia, a partnership with Etihad would not inhibit that and could instead open many new destinations for both Etihad and Delta passengers via codeshare flying.

The fact that Etihad chose Atlanta of all places in the USA does make me wonder whether we will soon hear about a partnership with Delta.

A Delta – Eithad PArtnership is Not Necessary

But Qatar Airways’ own service to Atlanta demonstrates that Atlanta itself is a growing and promising stand-alone market and suggests that even without a Delta partnership, Etihad sees a profitable path forward. Qatar Airways’ load factors are thought to be above 90% on its Atlanta – Doha route and it certainly charges a fare premium for nonstop flights to the Middle East.

Sensing that opening and noting that Emirates does not fly to Atlanta, perhaps Etihad just determined that it could make money on this route from Abu Dhabi connections, even without Atlanta connections. That strategy has worked for Turkish Airlines as well…

Think about it: you can get to nearly anywhere in the world with one-stop if flying Etihad (or Emirates or Doha). That is going to be attractive for a whole lot of people in the US Southeast trying to reach Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and even Australia.

I don’t think a partnership with Delta is necessary in order for the new route to be successful.

CONCLUSION

Etihad will launch service to Atlanta on July 2, 2025 and the flights are already for sale (though there is no saver award space yet). Let the speculation begin on whether Delta and Etihad will announce a closer partnership. I tend to think that an announcement is coming, though I also acknowledged (as I explained above) that this partnership need not happen for Etihad to succeed in Atlanta.

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