Etihad Airways’ New Boston Route Completes ME3 Presence in Massachusetts

At 8:50 am on March 31, the inaugural flight of Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi landed in Boston. In this way, Logan Airport completes the trio of major Middle Eastern airlines after Emirates and Qatar (known as ME3 in English).

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The first flight was operated with a Boeing 787-9 registration A6-BNF, and as posted on his Linkedin account by Etihad’s Chief Revenue & Commercial Officer, Erik De, a load factor of 97% was achieved.

As we pointed out in a previos report, Boston is the first new destination that Etihad launches in North America since July 2025. The company had been forced to cancel its flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Dallas/Fort Worth due to a financial restructuring process.

Etihad’s flight schedule to Boston

• Abu Dhabi – Boston Flight EY 147 AUH 03:10 – BOS 08:55 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
• Boston – Abu Dhabi Flight EY 148 BOS 15:55 – AUH 12:00+1 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

The route will be operated on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with a capacity of 299 seats in two classes (28 Business Studios/299 Economy Smart and Economy). This represents a weekly offer of 1,160 seats per direction.

Boston – Middle East Competition

Regarding the connection between Boston and the Middle East (and destinations beyond the hubs of that region), Etihad will compete with Emirates and Qatar Airways.

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Emirates operates a daily flight from Dubai with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft (2,492 seats per direction weekly), while Qatar does the same but between Boston and Doha with Airbus A350-900 aircraft (1,981 seats per direction each week).

Although not part of the group informally known as ME3 (referring to being the three largest in the Middle East), El Al also flies to Boston three times a week from Tel Aviv.

Etihad Airways in North America

Boston is Etihad’s fourth destination in the United States after Washington-Dulles, New York-JFK, and Chicago-O’Hare, and the fifth in North America considering Toronto-Pearson in Canada.

• New York – JFK: two daily flights on Boeing 787-9.
• Chicago O’Hare: one daily flight on Airbus A350-1000.
• Washington – Dulles: one daily flight on Boeing 787-9.
• Toronto – Pearson: one daily flight on Boeing 777-300ER.
• Boston: four flights a week on Boeing 787-9.

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