Video: Father meets newborn for first time as Etihad reunites family

@etihad/ Twitter

A family that was forced to live apart for four months due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions has been reunited, thanks to Etihad Airways.

The national airline of the UAE helped repatriate Farah Oubed along with her young son Adam and newborn baby Ahmad.

They had been separated from Oubed’s husband, Abdulmajid Koutrach, as a result of the global lockdowns triggered by the pandemic.

The family, who have been UAE residents for more than 10 years, were granted approval to return to the UAE on Etihad flight EY140 from Toronto on May 12.

They were welcomed at Abu Dhabi International Airport by Koutrach who met his newborn son Ahmad for the very first time.

"I am truly grateful to the UAE government and Etihad Airways for bringing my precious family back to our home in the UAE,” said Koutrach.

“It was very hard to be away from them for so long due to the coronavirus crisis and I’m the happiest man alive to see my beautiful wife Farah and our oldest son Adam again, and especially to meet my new son Ahmad for the very first time."

More from Local News

News

  • 'Peace is not far away' says Erdogan after Putin meeting

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, fresh from a meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, said he hopes to discuss a Ukraine-Russia peace plan with US President Donald Trump, adding that "peace is not far away".

  • UAE, Serbia deepen ties with new political agreement

    His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Marko Đurić. have agreed to deepen political coordination after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during talks in Abu Dhabi.

  • UAE strengthens child protection measures

    The UAE has introduced changes to its laws governing the care of children of unknown parentage, expanding custody options and strengthening child protection measures.