Etihad suspends flights to Beirut, Istanbul as part of network changes due to virus

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has announced temporary changes to its route network including cancellations and flight reductions due to the impact of the coronavirus, it announced on Sunday.

The airline is suspending all flights to Beirut, Istanbul, Amman, Casablanca, Rabat, Madrid and Barcelona until March 31, while flights to Milan and Rome have been suspended until April 30. While flights to Hong Kong have been stopped until June 30, frequencies to Jakarta, Seoul and Bangkok have been reduced.

“Etihad Airways continues to follow UAE and international government and regulatory authority directives and has implemented a series of consolidated network changes,” it said in a statement.

“This is also being carried out for the safety and convenience of its passengers and staff, and to minimise operational disruption during this period.”

While the UAE has cancelled flights to certain destinations, other countries have also banned flights as part of a lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, which has reached over 140 countries so far.

Read: UAE suspends issuance of all visas, bans travel to Italy, Turkey, among others

Etihad said future changes to the route network may occur due to government directives in key markets.

“Etihad Airways is working closely with regulatory authorities in the UAE and overseas and is continuing to monitor this situation closely,” it said.

Read: Passenger airline industry could lose up to $113bn due to coronavirus – IATA

The following services from Abu Dhabi have been temporarily changed

Milan
All flights suspended until April 30

Rome
EY85/86 suspended until April 30
EY83/84 suspended until June 30

Beirut
All flights suspended from March 16-31

Istanbul
All flights suspended from March 16-31

Casablanca and Rabat
All flights suspended from March 16-31

Amman
All flights suspended from March 17-31

Madrid and Barcelona
All flights suspended from March 17-31

Jakarta
Reduced from double-daily to daily (suspension of EY472/471) from March 18 until June 30

Seoul
Reduced from daily to four weekly (operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays) from March 30 to April 30

Hong Kong
All flights suspended until June 30

Bangkok
Reduced from triple-daily to double-daily (suspension of EY406/405) from March 21 to May 2

The following previously announced network changes remain in place:

Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Madinah
All flights suspended from March 16-31

Kuwait
All flights suspended until March 31

Bahrain
Reduced from triple-daily to double-daily until March 31

Muscat
Reduced from triple-daily to double-daily until March 31

Shanghai
All flights suspended until March 28

Chengdu
All flights suspended until further notice.

Nagoya
All flights suspended until June 30

For passengers impacted by flight cancellations, procedures are in place for fare refunds or for flight changes when services resume.

Etihad urged passengers affected by Covid-19 travel restrictions to refrain from calling the airline’s customer service lines unless their flights are scheduled within the next 48 hours.

“Contact Centres are currently experiencing significant congestion and long waits. The immediate priority is to assist those guests with imminent travel,” it said.

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