Update on US CBP preclearance in Abu Dhabi (good news)

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A little over two weeks ago, we wrote about the news that passengers on two of Etihad’s US bound flights would, for a transitional period, not be able to use the US CBP preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi and would have to clear immigration upon arrival in the United States just as passengers on most other flights have to do.

Well, there’s now some good news to share.

The issue

On 9 October, Etihad announced that for an unspecified period of time, only passengers traveling on the following US-bound flights would have access to the CBP preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi:

• EY 005 (Abu Dhabi – Washington D.C.)
• EY 003 (Abu Dhabi to New York JFK)
• EY 009 (Abu Dhabi to Chicago O’Hare)

Passengers travelling on EY 007 (Abu Dhabi to Boston) and EY 001 (Abu Dhabi to New York JFK) would need to clear immigration and customs on arrival in the US.

The update

Whatever the issue was that meant that two out of Etihad’s five US-bound flights were not eligible for preclearance appears to have been resolved because according to the latest news from the airline, passengers on the Abu Dhabi to Boston flight are already permitted to use the preclearance facility once again (this appears to have gone into effect on 21 October) and from 27 October, passengers on the Abu Dhabi to New York JFK flight will also be welcome back at the preclearance facility.

We still haven’t seen or read a reason for the temporary suspension of the preclearance option for travelers to Boston and JFK, but it looks like Etihad’s ‘transitional period’ was just that and not the start of a prolonged period during which preclearance was only open to a subset of US-bound travelers. That’s very good news.

As a reminder …

Guests with access to the US preclearance facility must:

• Check in for their flight at Terminal A at least four hours before their flight.
• Make their way to the facility two hours before their flight, or 90 minutes before their flight if they’re travelling in Business Class, First Class or The Residence.

Note: The US CBP preclearance facility closes an hour before the flight departure time.

Unfortunately, the Etihad US preclearance lounge is currently closed for refurbishment, so passengers traveling in the Residence, First Class, or Business Class and passengers whose elite status gives them lounge access, are being pointed in the direction of the First Class and Business Class lounges in the main terminal area (the preclearance area is approximately a 15-minute walk away from these lounges according to Etihad).

Bottom line

The Etihad US preclearance lounge at Abu Dhabi may still be closed for renovations, but whatever issue or issues led to the removal of the US preclearance option for travelers from Abu Dhabi to Boston and New York JFK appear to have been resolved.

Passengers on Etihad’s Boston flight are already being welcomed back at the preclearance facility and passengers on the airline’s JFK flight will be able to use the facility from 27 October onwards.