Saudi Arabia barred the entry of foreigners travelling from Abu Dhabi aboard at least three Etihad flights on Monday, shortly after it issued a directive suspending airline services between the Gulf states.

The UAE’s national carrier said it has suspended temporarily all flights between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, in response to a directive from the kingdom’s General Authority for Civil Aviation, to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Also on Monday, Sharjah-based Air Arabia, the only listed carrier in the UAE, saw its shares plunge 5 percent to 1.09 dirhams by 13:45 GST, as the rising number of coronavirus cases led to more flight cancellations. The company’s stock has retreated 32.3 percent so far since the start of the year.

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday that flights to and from nine countries, including the UAE, would be suspended to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Affected flights

Etihad, which operates up to 12 flights per day on the Abu Dhabi-Saudi Arabia route, said it has cancelled a total of seven flights on Monday. Four of its flights, however, were already on their way to Saudi Arabia at the time of the directive.

When Etihad Airways’ flights reached Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam on Monday, only Saudi nationals were permitted to disembark. The fourth flight operated to Medina to repatriate Umrah passengers.

“All [the] other passengers remained on the aircraft, which will return to Abu Dhabi,” Etihad said in a statement.

“In addition to the flight suspensions to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia has also banned Saudi nationals and Saudi residents from travelling to countries including the UAE and on passengers travelling from or transiting through Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Italy, Egypt and Korea,” Etihad added.

The airline said procedures are in place for fare refunds to passengers impacted by the flight cancellations or flight changes when services resume.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; editing by Cleofe Maceda)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

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