Etihad Airways suspends flights to Saudi Arabia

Etihad Airways has announced that it suspended temporarily all flights between Abu Dhabi and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in response to a directive from the General Authority for Civil Aviation, Saudi Arabia, to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The airline operates up to 12 flights per day between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, said a press release issued by Etihad on Monday, noting that it has cancelled a total of seven flights today between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medina, and is now advising passengers who were booked to travel today.

Another four flights which were en-route to Saudi Arabia at the time of the directive were permitted to land. When flights arrived in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, nationals of Saudi Arabia were permitted to disembark but all other passengers remained on the aircraft, which will return to Abu Dhabi. The fourth flight operated to Medina to repatriate Umrah passengers.

Etihad Airways is working closely with regulatory authorities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and is continuing to monitor this situation closely.

For passengers impacted by the flight cancellations, procedures are in place for fare refunds or for flight changes when services resume. Etihad will continue to provide updates on the situation as information becomes available.

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