Etihad passengers to get free Abu Dhabi medical travel cover

Eligible Etihad visitors get automatic UAE medical insurance for up to 15 days

Last updated: June 12, 2026 | 15:33

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

Etihad passengers to get free Abu Dhabi medical travel cover

Dubai: International visitors flying to Abu Dhabi on Etihad will automatically receive complimentary medical travel insurance for up to 15 days from July, giving travellers an added layer of cover during their stay in the UAE.

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The insurance will apply to eligible Etihad-operated flights from July through December 2026, with no application required. The cover will be included with every qualifying ticket for guests flying to Abu Dhabi, provided the point of origin and point of sale are outside the UAE.

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Travellers using Etihad’s complimentary Stopover Programme to spend time in Abu Dhabi will also be covered for the duration of their stay, subject to terms and conditions.

No application required

The initiative has been launched by Etihad Airways in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi. The medical cover is underwritten and administered by The National Insurance Company, Daman, part of PureHealth.

The move is aimed at reducing one part of the travel planning process for visitors, especially during the peak travel period when Abu Dhabi is seeking to attract more stopover and leisure passengers.

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Medical travel insurance is often purchased separately by international visitors before departure. Under the new arrangement, eligible Etihad passengers will receive cover automatically as part of their ticket.

“This initiative ensures we meet that demand with an exceptional, end-to-end visitor experience," said Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi. "Our partnership with Etihad will set a new benchmark for destination standards and ensure our guests feel welcomed, valued, and cared for from the moment they book.”

Abu Dhabi has been expanding its tourism offering across culture, entertainment, heritage and family attractions, including Saadiyat Island, Yas Island and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The insurance offer also adds another incentive for passengers using Abu Dhabi as a stopover point while travelling through Etihad’s wider network.

“Giving comprehensive medical insurance with every eligible Etihad ticket means our guests can focus entirely on experiencing the extraordinary Emirati hospitality Abu Dhabi has to offer," said Antonoaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways. "This is what it looks like when an airline and a destination truly invest in their visitors.”

The offer gives eligible visitors one fewer travel formality to arrange before departure, while supporting Abu Dhabi’s push to increase visitor numbers and stopover stays during the second half of 2026.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.