BREAKING NEWS is that Etihad Airways, the UAE's national airline, is to fly daily non-stop from Abu Dhabi to JFK New York Terminal 4 from 26 October 2006.
The airline already has a three times a week service to Toronto, via Brussels. Flight time is around 14 hours, the service one of a series of introductions from the Gulf area bypassing Heathrow.
The new route will be flown by a three-class Airbus A340-500. Trade between the United States and the UAE amounted to $10 bn in 2005, making it the second-largest US trading partner in the GCC behind Saudi Arabia. There are also more than 500 American companies in the UAE which are set to benefit from Etihad”s daily service.
http://www.etihadairways.ae