Dubai Airports CEO said he doesn’t expect the UAE to be removed before the end of June or July…

There are currently hundreds of thousands of UK nationals in Dubai, who are waiting with bated breath for the UAE to be removed from the UK ‘red list’. If you’re one of them, it looks like you might have to wait a little longer.

According to Arabian Business, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths has revealed in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Sunday, June 20, that he ‘doesn’t expect the UAE to be removed from the UK’s red list before the end of June or July’.

It will be highly disappointing news for those many individuals living in Dubai who haven’t been able to visit friends and family in the UK since the UAE was added to the UK’s ‘red list’ for travel, back in January 2021.

However, it remains to be seen how the UK government will make adjustments to its strict travel corridor, and when the UAE’s red list status will be amended.

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Currently, those who wish to return to the UK may do so, however they will have to stay in a UK government-approved hotel for 10 days at a personal cost of £1,750 (approx. Dhs8884). Failure to do so means a fine of up to £10,000 (approx. Dhs50,766).

According to UK national newspaper, The Independent, the UK Government’s next review of the travel corridor system is expected to be on June 24, with any changes expected to come into effect by June 29. This is based on the ‘three week’ review timeframe laid out by the UK Government.

Many UAE residents wishing to return to the UK are opting to spend an 11-day stop-over in one of the UK’s green or amber list countries to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine upon entering the UK, meaning they can effectively spend their ‘quarantine’ time exploring another country before flying direct to the UK. Note that there are still home quarantine requirements for ‘amber list’ countries. Find out the requirements and the the best countries for a stopover here. 

The future for Dubai Airports and Emirates is looking brighter though. On June 20, Dubai Airports announced that Terminal 1 is finally set to reopen on Thursday, June 24 after a long fifteen months of being closed.

By the end of July, Emirates will have recovered almost 90 per cent of its pre-pandemic network, as the airline will be operating 880 weekly services across 124 cities.

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