Etihad Airways suspends flights to Saudi Arabia amid COVID-19 scare

Etihad Airways on Monday announced that it has temporarily suspended its all flight services between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.

The move comes in response to a directive from the General Authority for Civil Aviation of the Kingdom to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The airline, in a statement, said that it has cancelled a total of seven flights today between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medina, and is now advising passengers who were booked to travel today.

When flights arrived in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, Saudi nationals were permitted to disembark but all other passengers remained on the aircraft, which will return to Abu Dhabi. The fourth flight operated to Medina to repatriate Umrah passengers, the statement read.

"Etihad Airways is working closely with regulatory authorities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and is continuing to monitor this situation closely," it said.

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, the statement said.

Earlier today, Riyadh reported a total of 11 confirmed cases of viral infection. Most of them were the people returning from a religious pilgrimage to Iran.

The Kingdom has also cordoned off a region in the country's Eastern province in a bid to contain the coronavirus' spread.

UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention, last week, confirmed a total of 15 coronavirus cases.

The coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, last December and has now spread to more than 100 countries across the globe. The global death toll is nearing 3,800, with more than 103,000 confirmed cases.