Busiest air route in the world London-Dubai hit by Covid restrictions

Busiest air route in the world London-Dubai hit by Covid restrictions

by

(CNN) – New travel bans imposed by the UK, which limit arrivals from the United Arab Emirates and other destinations, in an attempt to curb Covid’s expansion, are likely to impact what has become the busiest air route in the world.

The United Kingdom imposed new restrictions on Friday as it stepped up quarantine measures in an effort to reduce the worst outbreak of the virus in Europe. Covid’s deaths this week exceeded the UK’s 100,000 limit.

UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda were being added to a “red list” of countries considered high risk for travel because of the increase in Covid cases.

“This means that people who have been to or transited through these countries will be denied entry, except for British, Irish and citizens of third countries with a right of residence who must isolate themselves for 10 days at home,” he said.

The decision came after the United Kingdom announced a new hotel quarantine policy for travelers from 30 countries on Wednesday. However, Shapps emphasized that British, Irish and third-country nationals with residence rights from the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda would only need to isolate themselves at home and not in a hotel.

Passengers still need to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test and complete a passenger tracking form. Failure to do so will mean a fine of £ 500 (about $ 680) for each offense, Shapps cautioned.

Variant Discovery

These new travel bans follow the “discovery of a new coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, which may have spread to other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda,” said a statement from the Department of Transport. from UK.

The restrictions imposed on arrivals from the United Arab Emirates are likely to affect air traffic between London’s Heathrow airports and Dubai International, a route which, due to ambitious restrictions in other parts of the world, has emerged as the busiest in the world.

Travel data analyst OAG says the route represented 190,365 seats in January 2021, making it the largest capacity international route. The next busiest were Cairo and Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, with 154,337.

The UAE airline offers several daily flights between London and Dubai.

Dubai’s popularity with visitors from the UK in recent months has been driven by the fact that it has been one of the few winter tourist destinations open to British travelers who have not seen them facing the need for quarantine on their return.

However, a recent blockade in the UK prohibiting the British from embarking on international leisure travel has also reduced most trips abroad.

Dubai is one of the few destinations in the world open to all visitors, as long as they meet Covid’s testing requirements.

.Source