Etihad Airways only operates flights with pilots and flight attendants who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the state carrier of Abu Dhabi said on Wednesday.

The airline has provided employees with China's COVID-19 vaccine.

The airline said more than 75% of its employees received at least the first dose of vaccine.

Dubai-based airline Emirates also offered the Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to employees.

Since the beginning of the year, the UAE has seen a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, with the number of daily cases reaching a record 3,977 on February 3.