Etihad, which means “union” in Arabic, is based in Abu Dhabi and is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The airline was founded in July 2003 by government decree by the Emir of Abu Dhabi, Khalifa bin Zayid Al Nahyan. With a financial injection of around 139 million US dollars in start-up capital, flight operations began on November 5, 2003.

In October 2014, Etihad Airways founded the aviation alliance Etihad Airways Partners.