Etihad Airways is expecting to restore its normal schedule within 24 hours after severe fog disrupted flight operations.

Following a major restructuring of operations on Saturday night, including cancelations of 20 flights, aircraft congestion at Abu Dhabi has eased, with many disrupted services departing and delayed inbound services arriving in Abu Dhabi, according to an airline statement.

In addition, the rebooking of many Etihad Airways passengers on later flights, or their transfer to other airlines, has helped ease the pressure on Abu Dhabi International Airport, while the cancelation or deferral of flights around the network has provided more pilots and cabin crew to operate rescheduled services.

The carrier said it is taking steps to provide flights for the passengers still stranded in Abu Dhabi and other ports around the network.

Passengers who are able to defer their travel to, from, or through Abu Dhabi, up to and including Tuesday Jan. 6, are being encouraged to rebook flights through the airline’s global contact centers, details of which can be found at etihad.com/contacts, with the airline waiving normal cancelation and refund fees during this period.

Etihad Airways continues to deploy additional staff to Abu Dhabi International Airport to assist passengers, and during the past 24 hours has booked more than 2,000 hotel rooms in Abu Dhabi to accommodate guests affected by the disruptions.

Passengers have been advised to contact the Etihad Airways Contact Center on +971 (0) 2 599 0000 or visit etihad.com/flightstatus for more information on the status of flights.

However, response times will be longer than usual as the airline’s global contact centers continue to experience high volumes of calls from passengers wishing to change their flights or enquire about flight status.