Etihad Airways has resumed flights from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport on Monday afternoon despite earlier announcing that operations would remain suspended until Tuesday at the earliest.
The airline is planning to run up to 15 flights from Abu Dhabi Airport on Monday afternoon after it suspended all services on Saturday due to the ongoing conflict with Iran.
The first plane to takeoff was an Airbus A380 superjumbo operating as flight EY-67 to London Heathrow which departed at around 2:30 pm.
Other flights to Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow, Mumbai, Delhi, Islamabad, Kochi, Cairo, Bangalore, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Muscat, and Karachi have also been scheduled.
Local authorities have still not officially announced the reopening of airspace and the decision by Etihad stands in stark contrast to Emirates and Qatar Airways which have kept their planes grounded.
Etihad says it intends to resume normal operations at 2 pm on Tuesday and it’s understood that the limited number of flights given clearance to depart on Monday are reserved for passengers who have been stuck in transit since the weekend.
