Etihad Airways is positioning some of its airplanes back to its home hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) after it was granted special permission to fly in otherwise closed airspace.
At least three aircraft, including two Airbus A350-1000 widebody airplanes, have been flown back to Abu Dhabi from Istanbul and Muscat, and one Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is being returned to Abu Dhabi from Cairo.
Etihad Airways grounded all planes into and out of Abu Dhabi International Airport early on Saturday after Israel and the United States launched military strikes on Iran, resulting in a serious deterioration of the security situation across the region.
The airline does, however, have plans to restart flight operations from 2:00 am (local time) on Monday, March 2.
On Saturday night, Abu Dhabi International Airport is believed to have come under attack by Iranian kamikaze drones. Local authorities say they intercepted the drone, but falling debris resulted in the death of an Asian national and left seven other people injured.
Other airports across the region have also come under attack from Iranian drones and missiles.
On Saturday night, Dubai International Airport was hit by an Iranian drone that penetrated the roof of Terminal 3 and caused ‘limited’ damage to the concourse. In a statement, the airport said that four workers had sustained minor injuries.
Most passengers had already been evacuated to local hotels at the time of the incident, although distressing images of bloodied tourists running inside the terminal quickly went viral.
Earlier on Saturday, Kuwait International Airport took a direct hit from an Iranian drone, causing damage inside the terminal building, while a seperate explosion at Dubai International rocked the airfield on Sunday morning.
In a statement, Etihad Airways cautioned that the “situation remains dynamic and schedules may change at short notice.”
While the airline plans to resume operations early on Monday, what that might look like in practice is still a work in progress, and could be affected by developments later on Sunday.
For the timebeing, Emirates does not intend to resume operations until 3 pm on Monday, while Qatar Airways says it will provide a further update on its restart plans at 9 am on Monday.
There are tens of thousands of passengers currently stranded across the Middle East, and governments in Europe and elsewhere have been considering contingency plans to evacuate their nationals out of the region should flight operations be further disrupted due to the Iran war.
Some passengers have already taken matters into their own hands, driving from the UAE to Oman, where flights have continued to operate from Muscat International Airport. Tourists in Bahrain have also driven into Saudi Arabia to self-repatriate on flights from Riyadh.
Many Western governments, however, have urged their citizens to continue sheltering in place in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE, until further notice.
