Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, announced it would commence services to Düsseldorf in Germany from December 16, 2011. Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and is the airline’s 71st destination. It will be connected to the airline’s hub and home base in Abu Dhabi initially by four non-stop return services per week, rising to a daily service in mid-April 2012.