Etihad to add a second daily flight from Manchester

As part of an aggressive ramp up of services to Europe, Etihad has announced a second daily flight to Manchester.

Extra flights will also be added to Paris, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Barcelona and Madrid. Warsaw and Prague will be new routes.

It is a two stage process:

• flights increase from 7x weekly to 10x weekly from December 2024

• flights increase from 10x weekly to 14x weekly from August 2025

This will see Etihad return to its pre-pandemic operation. It was in 2011 that it originally went to ‘double daily’ from Manchester.

The new service will operate overnight, leaving Manchester at 19.50 and landing in Abu Dhabi at 06.55. The existing flight leaves Manchester at 08.25, landing at 19.30.

The new flight is currently showing as a Boeing 787-9, image below. Unless you get one of the latest arrivals to the fleet, you will get the same Business Class seat as the A380 which we reviewed here.

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How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

Etihad Guest does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Etihad Guest miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 50,000 Etihad Guest miles.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 10,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Etihad Guest miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Etihad Guest mile.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, not just with Etihad but with any airline.