ABU DHABI // Etihad Airways will conduct medical examinations for Emirati staff who are called up for national service.
Etihad has signed an agreement with the National Service and Reserve Authority. More than 6,000 Emiratis are set to join the airline by 2020.
“We are proud of the role that UAE nationals play in the national airline and the crucial role they’ll play as part of the national service programme,” Etihad chairman Mohamed Al Mazrouei said yesterday.
The airline’s medical centre has been certified to conduct the medicals and will report the results to the authority.
“In every country people need to get checked before joining national service as they have to be fit,” said Dr Ihab Ramadan, head of accident and emergency at Medcare Hospital. “People who have neurological problems, diabetes or who are epileptic cannot join.”
James Hogan, Etihad’s president, said that since the airline began its Emiratisation strategy in 2007, nationals have jumped to 23 per cent from 4 per cent of its workforce.
cmalek@thenational.ae
