Flights between London and Abu Dhabi to continue as normal: Etihad

Flights between London and Abu Dhabi are continuing to operate as scheduled, a spokesperson for Etihad airways has said.

This came after London's Heathrow Airport capped the number of departing passengers at 100,000 a day this summer as it struggles to cope with a surge in travel. It has told airlines to stop selling tickets over the next two months in the face of baggage delays and lengthy queues.

In a statement to Khaleej Times, the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad said it is aware of the temporary capacity limits at Heathrow Airport and "is working with the airport authorities and the slot coordinator to understand how they will be applied".

"In the event that there is any impact, it will be communicated in due course," the spokesperson added.

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Some UAE residents have reported chaos at the airport over the recent past.

Dubai resident Paul Winick said his parents faced some issues when they travelled to New York from Heathrow last week. “The usual method of checking in luggage was not working due to staff shortages,” he said. “So after checking in, they had to leave their luggage in a pile. They were worried that it would not arrive with them but they were lucky and did not face any issues. I have also heard from a friend’s wife who travelled from Dubai that she had to wait 2.5 hours for her luggage to arrive.”

Meanwhile, travel agencies said they have not received any information of flights from the UAE being cancelled, delayed or re-routed. Several of them have adopted a wait-and-watch approach to the developments.

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