The Rapid Growth of Airline Connections Between Poland and the UAE

The government of the United Arab Emirates actively tries to increase inbound tourism in the country. Multiple airlines based in the region are expanding operations by adding new destinations to their respective networks. Poland is one of the markets that will see the presence of all Emirati carriers as soon as 2025.

The Most Recent Entrant

On Friday, the UAE-Poland market got its newest entrant. Etihad Airways has announced two new routes to come in June 2025. Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi will be connected to Chopin Airport in Warsaw and Václav Havel Airport in Prague.

The carrier will serve the routes with its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The aircraft features 262 seats in the economy cabin as well as 28 seats in business class. Passengers will be able to comfortably transfer to a wide network of Etihad’s destinations at the recently opened Zayed International Airport.

Warsaw and Prague flight schedule of Etihad Airways

Both Poland and Czechia are markets Etihad has never served before. The carrier has not only rejuvenated its network after restructuring but is profitable and has started to expand into completely new markets.

Antonoaldo Neves, Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, said: “We are proud to introduce Warsaw and Prague as our newest destinations, reflecting our commitment to expanding into new and exciting markets. These routes not only enrich our network but also offer a great opportunity to strengthen ties with these countries and attract more visitors to Abu Dhabi. We see this as a key part of our growth strategy, helping to drive tourism and support the UAE’s vision for the future.”

The Rise in Connectivity

Emirates was the first airline operator to enter the UAE-Poland market in 2013. For most of the time before 2020, the carried shared the market only briefly with Flydubai which connected Dubai with a secondary Polish airport in Krakow. The former carrier grew rapidly, launching the Warsaw route in 2021, Poznan in 2023, and expanding the Krakow route up to 21 frequencies in a week in the peak summer season of 2024. Together the sister-carriers based in Dubai will offer up to 44 flights weekly between the UAE and Poland.

Emirates and Flydubai are not all the country has to offer. Air Arabia is also growing substantially and entering new markets. Earlier this year, the carrier launched two routes from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates to Poland: Krakow and Warsaw. Initially, the carrier launched a five-weekly connection to Krakow, which later expanded to up to 12 frequencies in the peak summer season. Soon after that, the Sharjah-based low-cost airline announced the addition of the five times weekly Warsaw connection.

Scheduled connections between Poland and the United Arab Emirates over the years (Photo: Filip Kopec)

Wizz Air, a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier, has served multiple different routes between Poland and the United Arab Emirates in the past. The carrier had its moment in two Dubai airports, the Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. The success that allowed for consistent operations came when it launched an alternating connection from Abu Dhabi to Katowice and Krakow.

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Filip Kopeć

A passionate aviation enthusiast that started off his career as an aerospace engineer, but found his true calling on the commercial side of the airline business. Now as a finance guy among avgeeks and an avgeek among finance guys, he has experience working in the Revenue Divisions of three airlines. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, but admittedly sometimes is more about the journey than the destination.

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