Etihad resumes flights between Abu Dhabi and Istanbul

The national airline of the UAE is flying twice a week to Turkey's biggest city

Etihad has resumed flights between Abu Dhabi and Istanbul (pictured). Unsplash

Etihad has resumed services to Turkey, flying twice-weekly from Abu Dhabi to Istanbul.

Operated via a Boeing 787-9 aircraft with both Business and Economy cabins, the four-and-a-half-hour flight departs the UAE on Fridays and Saturdays. Return flights from Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, operate on Fridays and Sundays.

Return Economy fares start from Dh2,745 and all passengers must have a negative Covid-19 test before boarding any Etihad flight.

In December, Dubai's Emirates and low-cost airline flydubai resumed flights to Istanbul. It marked the first time that commercial passenger flights operated from the UAE to Turkey since the onset of the global pandemic.

Turkey has reopened to travellers but with strict entry requirements in place.

Anyone landing in the country will undergo a medical evaluation for symptoms of Covid-19, including temperature checks. Travellers must also fill in a passenger locator form and have proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of boarding flights to Turkey.

Transit passengers are excluded from this rule, unless they are flying from the UK, Denmark or South Africa.

Etihad, the national airline of the UAE, continues to rebuild its network following pandemic-related closures. The airline is set to operate to 60 destinations over winter, with flights to resume to Athens, Moscow and Rome in early February.

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