Etihad Airways has claimed that it will be the world’s first airline with 100 per cent of its operating pilots and cabin crew vaccinated against COVID-19.
The airline began vaccinating its crews earlier few weeks ago along with its Dubai-based counterpart, Emirates.
“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,” said CEO of Etihad Aviation Group, Tony Douglas.
“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 percent vaccinated crew on-board.”
Douglas, who has already received the Sinopharm vaccination, urged all Etihad employees to get vaccinated early on.
VP Medical Services and CSR, Etihad Aviation Group, Dr. Nadia Bastaki said, “Following the national vaccination programme, we worked tirelessly to become an approved COVID-19 vaccination clinic to support our staff, and their dependants, 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 employee’s wellbeing.”
However, Emirates has widened the scope of its vaccination programme but has stopped short of making vaccinations compulsory for operating crew.
