Etihad says it has vaccinated all of its operating pilots and cabin crew against Covid-19, claiming to be the first airline in the world to do so.
Tony Douglas, Etihad Group CEO, said: “We proactively made the vaccine available to all our employees to not only help combat the effects of Covid-19 but to make travellers feel confident and reassured the next time they fly with us.
“We are the only airline in the world to make Covid-19 testing mandatory for every passenger and crew member before every flight and now, we’re the first airline in the world with 100 per cent vaccinated crew on board.”
At the time of writing the UAE has the third highest rate of vaccination against Covid in the world, at 45.99 per 100 people, behind only Israel and Gibraltar.
Dr Nadia Bastaki, VP of medical services at the group, said: “Following the national vaccination programme, we worked tirelessly to become an approved Covid-19 vaccination clinic to support our staff, and their dependants, to be able to easily access the vaccine. Since December 2020, we have been offering in-house vaccination appointments to our employees and their loved ones to ensure we are focused on our employees’ wellbeing.”