Flights will resume to Moscow, Casablanca and Seychelles before the end of March ... and to Tel Aviv next April

Etihad Airways: Do not restrict travel to Covid-19 vaccine recipients

Etihad Airways is conducting experiments in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association regarding the smart travel application.

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"Etihad Airways" confirmed that there is no tendency to restrict travel to those who have received the "Covid-19" vaccine only, or to place restrictions on travel for non-vaccine recipients.

She explained that obtaining the vaccine is one of the fundamental matters that greatly contributes to the recovery of the aviation and air transport sector, and supports the opening of the travel sector again, noting that it is conducting experiments, in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), regarding the smart travel application, which will be launched experimentally during Next April.

It also expected that the second half of this year would witness a growth in travel demand.

Travel restrictions

In detail, the Senior Vice President for Network Operations at Etihad Airways, Chris Yolten, confirmed that “there is no tendency to restrict travel to those who have received the anti-virus vaccine (Covid-19), or to place restrictions on travel for non-vaccine recipients.”

He explained in a media briefing yesterday that "those who have not received the vaccine will not be prevented from traveling, especially since some may not be able to obtain it for health reasons," adding at the same time that obtaining the vaccine is one of the essential things that contribute greatly to the recovery of the aviation sector. And air transport in general, and supports the reopening of the travel sector again, and raises the demand for travel during the coming period.

Smart travel

Yolten revealed that "Etihad Airways" is currently conducting experiments, in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), regarding the smart travel application developed by IATA, pointing out that it will start operating it experimentally next April, by travelers to North America.

He added that "an application is currently being developed to ensure its performance on the various operating systems of smartphones, especially since the application is currently working on (iPhone) phones."

Yolten stressed that "Etihad Airways" is interested in ensuring that the application is suitable for travelers, not just the airlines that use it, and it is currently working with many parties in this regard, noting that the application "IATA" makes the process of travel easier in light of the pandemic, as well. It helps in completing travel procedures quickly, instead of waiting in long lines to present travel documents, and to end the procedures related to it at the airports of the countries that apply it, especially since the application will include the information contained in those documents.

Demand growth

Yolten expects that the second half of 2021 will witness a growth in demand for travel, coinciding with the acceleration of the process of obtaining the vaccine locally and globally, pointing out that the current time is witnessing an increase in the demand for travel to some destinations.

He said, "It is expected that the number of passengers will rise to the level it was during the year 2019, between 2022 and 2025, and that 2024 will witness a significant recovery from the effects of the pandemic."

In another context, Yolten pointed out that "Etihad Airways" is currently focusing on using Boeing 777s for passengers, due to the relatively low cost of use, as well as the lack of high fuel consumption, pointing to the conversion of four 777 passenger aircraft for freight service. Demand increased, and it played a major role in supporting airlines during the pandemic.

"Coalition of hope"

For his part, Senior Vice President for Sales and Shipping at Etihad Airways, Martin Drew, said that “the number of current destinations for (Etihad Airways) is 56 regional and international destinations,” revealing that travel to three new destinations will be resumed before the end of this month. They are: Moscow, Casablanca, and Seychelles, with flights to Tel Aviv starting next April, and more destinations restarting, coinciding with the summer of this year.

Drew stressed the great importance of the operations of the "coalition of hope", whose storage capacity for participants is six billion doses of vaccine, while the storage capacity is expected to rise to 18 billion doses by the end of this year.

He added that the "Coalition of Hope" stresses the strategic importance of the location of the UAE in general, and Abu Dhabi in particular, as the distance between Abu Dhabi and two-thirds of the world reaches four hours or less, which makes the country the most appropriate place for the vaccine storage operations.

Bastaki: 100% of the company's staff have received the vaccine

The Vice President for Medical Services and Social Responsibility, Dr. Nadia Bastaki, said, "It is impractical to prevent non-vaccinated people from traveling, just as any airport in the world has not placed restrictions on travel for non-vaccinated people."

She revealed that 100% of Etihad Airways' air crews had received the vaccine against the Corona virus, indicating that Etihad Airways had given the brigades to support the confidence of travelers, and to verify that all necessary measures were taken to maintain the safety and security of passengers on board its flights.

• The storage capacity of the participants in the "Coalition of Hope" is 6 billion doses of the vaccine.

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