Originally Posted by
Boddingtons
EU261 does not apply in the case of war, other than duty of care. Your best bet is to wait until the date for rebooking on Etihad is extended from 20April to May and request rebooking LHR-AUH direct.
I think that’s not quite correct. Clearly when there is mass disruption (like 2020) when no rebooking options may have existed, the EC did say that refunds may be the only viable option. However in this case the OP has identified that EK are flying. The issue is ba have rebooked the op on a currently planned flight with another airline, but the OP thinks it will be cancelled and the only viable option will end up being EK.