Khalifa City - Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, opened the doors to a new world-class medical facility in Abu Dhabi for its employees on Thursday.
The complex includes an aviation clinic, employee visa medical centre, as well as an Emirates ID centre.
Located at Etihad Plaza in Khalifa City, the facility will allow the airline’s 23 800 UAE-based employees access to an exclusive environment near its head office complex.
The new expanded aviation clinic is part of Etihad Airways’ strategic plan to consolidate its position as the foremost clinic of its kind in the region.
Etihad Airways’ employees and their dependents will also have access to an onsite medical facility to support the visa application process. An agreement was signed in February 2015 with Ambulatory Healthcare Services (SEHA) to operate the facility and provide visa medical services such as x-rays, blood tests and physical examinations.
Dr Mariam Buti Al Mazrouei, acting chief executive officer at Ambulatory Healthcare Services (AHS), said: “One of our key strategic objectives at SEHA and AHS is improving access to healthcare services, and the opening of the Etihad Airways visa screening centre is an example of how this objective can be achieved through cooperation with strategic partners across different sectors in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi."
In addition, an onsite Emirates Identity Authority centre has been setup at the premises, offering nearly 200 members of staff the ease of having their Emirates ID services provisioned per day. The location significantly reduces waiting times and processing times of Emirates ID for employees and their dependents in the UAE.
The new facility follows the introduction last year of a staff ambulance service, travel clinic for those travelling for work purposes, several free fitness centres in Abu Dhabi, and a dedicated welfare support service for the airline’s crew and pilots.