Etihad Airways praised by Australia for Enhanced Document Verification Checks

Etihad Airways has been commended by the Australian government for its work in preventing improperly documented passengers using the airline to travel to Australia.

During the past 12 months members of Etihad’s corporate security services team have worked closely with the Australian department of immigration and citizenship (DIAC) to enhance the document verification process at Abu Dhabi airport.

Etihad Airways was presented with an award from DIAC by H.E. Jeremy Bruer, Australian ambassador to the UAE to recognise the success of the joint project.

Johan De Waal, Etihad Airways’ head of corporate security services, said, “Our main focus is to ensure the safety of the airline and protect its operations at all times.

“We have worked very closely with the Australian authorities during the last year to make sure that we have trained staff, systems and procedures in place to combat the issue of passengers travelling to Australia without the correct documentation.”

Ambassador Bruer added, “Etihad has proved itself highly efficient in dealing with the ongoing issue of improperly documented persons seeking to gain entry to Australia and the joint programme with Australian immigration authorities has achieved great success.”

Etihad Airways enjoys strong relations with Australia having started flights to Sydney in March 2007 and Brisbane in September the same year. Since then the airline has tripled its number of flights from Australia and carried more than 145,000 passengers.

The Abu Dhabi based airline plans to build on this success by launching flights to a third Australian destination in 2009 and Etihad will also increase from October its Sydney flights from daily to 11 services per week.

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