Gulf carriers expand US
Emirates, Etihad and Qatar are expanding US services in 2026 — Emirates will add a second daily Abu Dhabi–Chicago flight from June 15 to meet rising demand between the Gulf and US .
Etihad will add a second daily Abu Dhabi–Chicago nonstop from June 15, 2026 operated with the Airbus A350‑1000, a change Simple Flying says will make Chicago Etihad’s busiest US gateway overtaking New York. simpleflying.com Qatar Airways’ 2026 schedule shows daily nonstops to Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, a two‑daily Dallas/Fort Worth service, Miami at 10 weekly frequencies and plans to lift Washington Dulles to twice‑daily on some days. simpleflying.com Emirates will reconfigure its US capacity in 2026 by switching the Dubai–Seattle service to a Boeing 777‑200LR from March 29, 2026, removing First Class and reducing seat capacity on that route. travelandtourworld.com The Dubai carrier is also rolling out Premium Economy to more city pairs and adding new long‑haul destinations in 2026, including a new Orlando service listed in its route updates. timeoutdubai.com Qatar plans a first dedicated US premium lounge at New York JFK in 2026 to bolster high‑yield connectivity, and has added 18 new codeshare routes with IAG partners to feed transatlantic traffic. connectingtravel.com Etihad briefly resumed a phased schedule to about 70 global destinations in March amid regional airspace disruptions, and Emirates has signalled a rapid network recovery targeting roughly 106 return daily flights to 83 destinations as airspace reopened. gulfnews.com
