Etihad Airways is on quite the expansion spree at the moment, as the airline is commencing all kinds of new routes. Over the summer, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier launched a very cool promotion, giving travelers an incentive to fly as many new routes as possible. The winners have now been crowned, and they sure put in some effort!

Etihad Guest awards nine million miles to three members

Earlier this year, Etihad launched the “Extraordinary Challenge” promotion. The idea was that Etihad was launching 15 new routes, and the first three people to fly the new routes the fastest would get huge prizes — we’re talking five million miles for the winner, three million miles for the runner up, and one million miles for the third person to complete the task.

There are a bunch of other prizes as well, but those were the biggest ones. While the competition technically runs well into 2026, the three winners were crowned over the weekend, at the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The first, second, and third place winners were all mighty committed to this promotion, as they chased inaugural flight after inaugural flight. Etihad shares that 50,000 Etihad Guest members signed up to compete, with 20% being new members to the program. Furthermore, 75% of members are based outside the UAE, and five of the 10 finalists were also based outside the UAE.

Here’s how Mark Potter, Managing Director of Etihad Guest, describes this:

“The Extraordinary Challenge has truly lived up to its name and the spirit of adventure each of our participating members has shown around the world is a testament to the passionate community we’ve created globally. Each of our winners has demonstrated what it means to give flight to ambition, and we’re thrilled to celebrate and reward their achievements.”

“The challenge is far from over with nearly 50K members still in play to achieve The Extraordinary Milestones and the competition still open to new sign-ups for the chance to earn up to 125K miles. There are still miles to be earned and milestones to be reached for anyone ready to embark on their own extraordinary journey. The challenge continues to unite a global community of travellers through Abu Dhabi.”

The interesting twist with the 15-route challenge

One interesting detail with this competition is that no one actually flew all 15 of Etihad’s announced new routes (despite the winners standing in front of a banner that specifically mentions 15 destinations).

That’s not due to lack of effort, though. Instead, Etihad postponed its Algiers (ALG) launch just hours before the service was due to commence, with the claim being that it was for reasons beyond the carrier’s control. It’s very strange to see a route postponed on such short notice, and no official reasons were given, beyond the above generic explanation.

I’ve heard rumors that this might involve political tensions over Morocco, but even that doesn’t necessarily make sense to me. I’m not sure to what extent this is related, but what’s interesting is that in November 2024, after Etihad announced plans to fly to Algiers, the Algiers Airport management company denied this service was happening, writing the following:

The company managing the interests and facilities of Algiers Airport denies what was reported about the addition of a new route linking Algiers Airport to Abu Dhabi Airport, which is operated by Etihad Airways.

We would love to welcome you.

So I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but it’s all very strange, especially since the route was postponed just hours before the inaugural was due to depart.