Etihad Airways, a national flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), this week announced the launch of ten new flight destinations beginning 2025, including a new route between Abu Dhabi and Phnom Penh, with the airline confirming the new Cambodian link is set to begin service from October 4, 2025.
According to the announcement, the Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh flights will commence in Q4 2025 with five flights per week, scheduled weekly on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The flights will depart from Phnom Penh at 8:40 and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 13:00, with passengers flying on state-of-the-art Airbus A321LR aircrafts.
The new Etihad services from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh will leverage the highly-anticipated new Phnom Penh international airport, the Techo International Airport (TIA), due to commence commercial operations in the new year.
As well as the Cambodian-bound flights, on Monday Etihad Airways also announced nine other new destinations, including seven in Asia.
The newly announced routes will link Abu Dhabi to Algiers (Algeria), Atlanta (US), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Krabi (Thailand), Hanoi (Vietnam), Hong Kong, Medan (Indonesia), Taipei (Taiwan) and Tunis (Tunisia).
The ten new destinations announced this week come in addition to Etihad’s previously revealed new destinations for 2025, which included Prague (Czech Republic), Warsaw (Poland) and Al Alamein (Egypt).
Eithad Airlines said that the airline’s new routes “fulfil its promise to provide guests with a route map featuring destinations they want to fly to, with connections and frequencies that suit their needs”.
According to the airline, Cambodia represents an exciting new destination for travellers from the UAE, noting that the vibrant capital of Phnom Penh blends historic charm with modern energy, featuring stunning landmarks like the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and the poignant Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
Meanwhile, the airline said that “Phnom Penh’s riverside promenade, lively markets, and emerging culinary scene make it a captivating destination for both history enthusiasts and cultural explorers”.
In regards to the substantial expansion of routes announced for 2025, Antonoaldo Neves, Etihad’s CEO, said that the launch of these ten destinations is supported by the world-renowned Zayed International Airport.
Neves also said that guests travelling through the Zayed International Airport are able to take advantage of Etihad’s free stopover offer, in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi.
The free stopover allows travellers booking flights with Etihad to easily add a stopover and choose a complimentary hotel stay for one or two nights from a selection of hotels across the city.
Neves confirmed that by 2025, Etihad Airways will have scheduled flights to 90 destinations in over 50 countries, and a fleet of more than 110 aircraft. Next year the airline expects to welcome over 20 million guests onboard, he added.
Other Middle Eastern links to Cambodian airport’s currently include Emirates, which has services from Phnom Penh to Dubai, via Singapore; as well as Qatar Airways.
Business between Cambodia and the UAE has increased in recent years, stimulating the need for convenient routes for business travellers from both capitals.
The Cambodia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) also came into effect in January 2024 to further bolster trade and investment between the two markets.
In the first 10 months of 2024, trade between Cambodia and the UAE amounted to $75 million, an increase of 7 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
