India benefits from United States preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi airport

By On Sep 25, 2014 0

ETW Staff – Mumbai

Air travellers from India, flying with Etihad Airways to the United States, are increasingly enjoying the benefits of arriving in the United States having precleared US Customs and Border Protection at Abu Dhabi International Airport, which enables them to arrive in the US as domestic passengers.

Since the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility opened in January 2014 more than 59,000 passengers from India have been processed through US immigration and customs, and Department of Agriculture inspections, eliminating the need to do so on arrival in the US.

The CBP facility is the first of its kind in the Middle East region, and the United Arab Emirate’s capital is one of a small group of airports around the world able to offer passengers preclearance into the US.

Neerja Bhatia, general manager- India, Etihad Airways said, “The US customs and immigration preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi Airport has been popular with Indian guests since it opened at the beginning of the year as it reduces many of the stress which used to affect travel to the US. The CBP preclearance process provides guests with the unique opportunity to pass through several checks including US customs, immigration and security while in Abu Dhabi before they board their flight to the US, enabling them to avoid queues on arrival.”

Another key benefit of preclearance at Abu Dhabi International Airport is that baggage security screening meets US TSA security standards, allowing air travellers who connect on to a US domestic flight to have their baggage checked through from Abu Dhabi to their final destination.” Without preclearance the baggage would have to be collected prior to customs inspection and then checked in for the subsequent domestic flight.

Etihad Airways operate 112 flights per week to 10 cities across India and they are: Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kozhikode, Kochi, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Jaipur. Etihad Airways will also start services to Kolkata, its 11th destination in India, starting from February 15, 2015.

Air travellers from India, flying with Etihad Airways, can use the CBP facility when connecting, via Abu Dhabi, to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. Dallas-Fort Worth will be added to this group of destinations when Etihad Airways starts its four flights a week operation in December.