Coronavirus: Etihad says only UAE citizens, diplomats allowed on its flights

Cairo: Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said on Monday that effective immediately only citizens of the UAE or diplomats will be able to board its flights from overseas destinations and only if their final destination is Abu Dhabi, the airline said on Twitter.

The UAE is suspending all passenger flights for two weeks from Wednesday to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Etihad told staff on Monday it would temporarily cut salaries by up to 50 per cent for a month due to the impact on its business from the coronavirus outbreak, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

Executives, pilots and engineers will be paid half their basic salaries and cabin crew would be paid 25 per cent less in April, the email said.

Other employees would also have their salaries cut and staff would not be paid their usual transport and other job-related allowances, it said.

"We will need to take some drastic measures to weather the storm over the next few weeks and avoid job losses as much as possible," Etihad Chief Executive Tony Douglas said in another staff email.

Etihad will suspend its entire passenger network for two weeks from Wednesday.