Etihad Airways will add the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to its rapidly growing network in November 2012.

The airline will also start flying to the Indian city of Ahmedabad in the same month. The two new cities will expand the airline’s reach to 86 passenger and cargo destinations around the world.

The new routes will each be served by an Airbus A320 aircraft and support Etihad Airways’ aims to connect key strategic cities with its home base of Abu Dhabi, enhancing commercial and leisure travel with the UAE’s capital city.

Flights between Abu Dhabi and Addis Ababa, its ninth destination in Africa, will initially operate five times a week, increasing to daily in 2013. Etihad currently operates 23 weekly flight from Pakistan, daily from Karachi, Lahore Islamabad and twice a week from Peshawar via Abu Dhabi to the world.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We continue to build strength and depth to our global network and the addition of Addis Ababa, a major East African hub, will make significant contributions to traffic flows to Abu Dhabiand beyond.

Addis Ababa is the economic centre and flights to Abu Dhabi will build greater ties with the UAE’s capital as it continues to invest in world-class development projects and attract business and leisure travellers.Ethiopiais the largest African market that Etihad Airways is yet to serve and the second most populous country in Africa. It is expected to contribute strong business and leisure traffic within the airline’s network.