UK stops direct flights from UAE, closing the busiest air route

Photo Cortesy: Yousef Alfuhigi on Unsplash

Britain has decided to ban direct flights from the UAE to curb the spike of new coronavirus variant in the country closing the busiest International air route.According to Reuters, Britain said it was adding the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda to its coronavirus travel ban list because of worries over the spread of a more contagious and potentially vaccine-resistant COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa.

“This means people who have been in or transited through these countries will be denied entry, except British, Irish and third country nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for ten days at home,” UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps said on Twitter on Thursday.

According to the report, Emirates and Etihad Airways said on their websites they would suspend all UK passenger flights from 1300 GMT on Friday when the ban takes effect. Dubai airport, in a statement, advised passengers booked on flights due to arrive in the UK after the ban comes into effect to not go to the airport and instead contact their airline.

The UK transport department advised British nationals currently in the United Arab Emirates to make use of indirect commercial airline routes if they wished to return to Britain.

Due to border closures caused by COVID-19, Dubai to London was the world’s busiest international route in January with 190,365 scheduled seats over the month, according to airline data provider OAG, the Reuters reported.

Emirates and Etihad normally carry large numbers of passengers connecting from Britain to destinations like Australia through their airport hubs, meaning the decision to cancel those flights will have far-reaching implications.

The Australian government said it will add more charter flights from Britain if needed as a result of the Emirates and Etihad cancellations.

Eran Ben-Avraham, an Australian stranded in Britain due to strict limits on the number of arrivals in Australia, said his options for getting home were continually shrinking.”

At the moment it is only giving us three options of flying Qatar, ANA or Singapore Airlines,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Reuters report said.