Abu Dhabi, Sep 4 - Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has expanded its US operations by adding one more city to its network, WAM news agency reported Friday.

The airline has launched flights from its Abu Dhabi home-base to the US city of Chicago. The inaugural flight took off Wednesday Sep 2 and landed 14 hours later at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The launch of the new service - Etihad's third destination in North America after New York and Toronto - brings to 55 the total number of international destinations served by the Abu Dhabi-based airline.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive, said: 'We are delighted to start services to Chicago which is our third major destination in North America. Chicago is set to become a key part of our global flight programme with strong traffic expected from cities across our Middle East and Indian sub-continent network.'