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Because immigration lines at US airports can be a living nightmare for travelers who don’t have Global Entry and who aren’t nationals or legal residents of the United States, the opportunity to use US CBP pre-clearance facilities in locations such as Ireland, Abu Dhabi, and Canada ahead of travel to the US can be a big time saver.
Flights that operate from a pre-clearance facility airport are usually treated in the same way as domestic flights when they arrive in the US, and that means that rather than having to deal with immigration and customs upon arrival, passengers can walk off the plane and head straight out of the airport if they so choose.
It also means that passengers with onward connections and checked bags don’t have to claim their luggage and clear customs before proceeding to their next flight.
Unfortunately, passengers on two of Etihad’s US bound flights are, for a ‘transitional period’, no longer able to use the US CBP preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi and will have to clear US immigration upon arrival just as passengers on most other flights have to do.
This is what Etihad has announced:
Check-in for US flights usually opens 6 hours prior to departure at Terminal A, and closes 2 hours before flight departure and the US CBP pre-clearance facility is currently available for the following US flights:
- EY 005 (Abu Dhabi – Washington D.C.)
- EY 003 (Abu Dhabi to New York JFK)
- EY 009 (Abu Dhabi to Chicago O’Hare)
For a transitional period, passengers travelling on the following flights will need to clear immigration and border controls on arrival in the US:
- EY 007 (Abu Dhabi to Boston)
- EY 001 (Abu Dhabi to New York JFK)
Passengers flying on either of these flights should head to the gate assigned to their flight in Terminal A. Check-in will close 1 hour before flight departure for Economy Class, and 45 minutes before flight departure for Business and First Class.
Passengers on these flights with a connecting flight to another destination, will have to collect any hold baggage they have, clear customs, and drop their bags with their onward carrier as baggage will not transfer automatically.
Quick thoughts
This is odd, and Etihad hasn’t said what has brought about this change or how long the ‘transitional period’ will last.
A quick look at the schedules shows us that these are the departure times for the five Etihad flights to the US:
- EY 001 (Abu Dhabi to New York JFK) – 02:40 – affected flight
- EY 009 (Abu Dhabi to Chicago O’Hare) – 03:05
- EY 007 (Abu Dhabi to Boston) – 03:10 – affected flight
- EY 005 (Abu Dhabi – Washington D.C.) – 10:10
- EY 003 (Abu Dhabi to New York JFK) – 10:30
If I was to guess (and that’s all I can really do at this point), I’d say that it’s possible that the pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi is understaffed and that there aren’t enough CBP officers available to handle three flights departing in the middle of the night and in the space of 30 minutes.
I can’t think of any other reason that fits the information we have.
If this is the case, then, presumably, the ‘transitional period’ will last as long as it will take US CBP to get its staffing issues under control and who knows how long that may take?
If there’s something else at play here I’d like to know what it is, so if anyone can shed some light on the situation, please comment below.
Bottom line
For a as yet unspecified period of time, passengers flying out of Abu Dhabi on EY 001 (JFK flight departing at 02:40) and EY 007 (Boston flight departing at 03:10) will not be able to use the US pre-clearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport and will have to clear immigration and customs upon arrival in the US.
