World’s first fully vaccinated airline crew; Etihad Airways creates history

The second-largest airline in UAE, Etihad Airways has become the first airline group in the world with all its operating pilots and cabin crew who have got vaccinated against the coronavirus disease.

Last month, the Abu Dhabi state carrier was awarded Diamond status for ensuring the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitization in the inaugural ‘APEX Health Safety, powered by SimpliFlying’ audit.

Etihad has provided the coronavirus vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) to its employees. The airline’s vaccination initiative has now secured its position as an industry leader in its response to the pandemic and in keeping its employees and travelers safe.

“We proactively made the vaccine available to all our employees to not only help combat the effects of COVID-19 but to make travelers 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 a 100 percent vaccinated crew onboard.”

The achievement became possible through Etihad’s ‘Protected Together’ employee vaccination initiative which was formally launched in January this year. Following the UAE’s “Choose to Vaccinate” campaign, Protected Together aims at helping staff to take personal steps towards protecting themselves against COVID-19.

Dr. Nadia Bastaki, Vice President Medical Services and CSR, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “Following the national vaccination program, we worked tirelessly to become an approved COVID-19 vaccination clinic to support our staff, and their dependents, 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.”

As per sources, 75 percent of Etihad’s entire workforce have already received at least one dose of the vaccine. The Protected Together initiative has planned more activities to increase this figure by making more employees choose to get vaccinated.

Also Read: Etihad becomes one of first airlines to launch IATA Travel Pass