Covid -19: Etihad stops KSA flights, ATM in June

ABU DHABI 10 March 2020: Etihad Airways announced that it has temporarily suspended 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 yesterday between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah, and is now advising passengers who were booked to travel.

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 Madinah 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.

Arabian Travel Market postponed

Arabian Travel Market, which was due to be held this April, has been postponed to June, the event’s organiser, Reed Travel Exhibitions announced.

In a statement on Monday, Reed said, “Due to the escalation of the Covid-19 epidemic around the world, the venue management, supporting associations, and in alignment with the advice from the UAE public health authorities regarding travel to and from impacted countries,” the decision was made to postpone the event to 19th – 22nd April, 2020 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

“The announcement has been made at the earliest opportunity to give as much notice as possible to all stakeholders enabling them to make the necessary arrangements to reschedule their plans and ensure even stronger attendance in June,” it added.

Saudi Arabia provides $10 million to WHO

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has provided US$ 10 million to the World Health Organisation (WHO), for the implementation of urgent measures to minimize the spread of the new coronavirus, Covid-19.

This support came in response to the urgent appeal by WHO to all countries aimed at intensifying efforts to take global measures to combat the spread of the disease, the Saudi News Agency, SPAand Wam reported.

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