It’s Official: Charlotte to Get Etihad Flights with One-stop Connections to India via Abu Dhabi in 2026

North Carolina is emerging as a destination of interest for several international airlines, including Etihad Airways. In 2024, Lufthansa added RDU Airport to its network and connected Raleigh to India and beyond via Frankfurt. In 2026, Etihad Airways will launch flights to Charlotte from Abu Dhabi with connections to major cities across its global network. Charlotte, the most populous city in North Carolina, is the airline’s sixth gateway in the US, after New York, Chicago, Boston, D.C., and Atlanta.

Etihad flights to Charlotte will take off on May 4, 2026, and this is good news for Indians in North Carolina. They will get to travel on a Middle East airline other than Lufthansa, American Airlines, and United Airlines. Precisely, Etihad Airways is the first Middle East carrier to expand to North Carolina and operate flights from Charlotte to India via Abu Dhabi, a popular transit layover in the UAE. Etihad will further connect travelers from North Carolina to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, and Trivandrum.

With more than 450,000 Asian Americans living in North Carolina, and Indian-origin immigrants being the largest ethnic group, Etihad Airways is a more convenient option for them. Among the perks of flying with Etihad, you will get to enjoy the inflight hospitality and award-winning service that the Middle East airlines are known for. Etihad is a family-friendly airline with inflight nanny service for infants and trained nurses for passengers with a medical condition.

Booking Etihad flight tickets for a round trip or two one-way trips between USA and India is an opportunity to explore Abu Dhabi City for less. Of course, it depends on the layover length in your itinerary. Etihad Airways offers various Abu Dhabi stopover programs to international transit travelers. Interestingly, US citizens are eligible for the UAE’s visa on arrival at Zayed International Airport, Abu Dhabi. Indians can get a single-entry transit visa to Abu Dhabi for 48 to 96 hours.

Among the top 10 airlines on major India-USA routes, Etihad Airways stands out for the US immigration preclearance facility at AUH Airport, a major advantage for USA-bound travelers from India and other countries. Unbeatable flight deals from IndianEagle.com, the most trusted travel-booking partner for Indians and Americans, make it another advantage of flying with Etihad.