United kingdom bans direct flights from UAE, shutting world’s busiest intercontinental route

LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Britain is banning direct passenger flights to and from the United Arab Emirates from Friday, shutting down the world’s busiest worldwide airline route from Dubai to London.

© Reuters/HENRY NICHOLLS
Outbreak of the coronavirus disorder (COVID-19), in London

Britain stated it was adding the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda to its coronavirus travel ban record due to the fact of worries in excess of the spread of a a lot more contagious and most likely vaccine resistant COVID-19 variant to start with discovered in South Africa.

“This signifies people today who have been in or transited by way of these nations around the world will be denied entry, besides British, Irish and 3rd place nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for 10 times at home,” U.K. Transportation Minister Grant Shapps mentioned on Twitter on Thursday.

© Reuters/ABDEL HADI RAMAHI
FILE Photograph: Emirates planes are observed on the tarmac in a standard check out of Dubai Global Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Emirates and Etihad Airways reported on their internet websites they would suspend all U.K. passenger flights from 1300 GMT on Friday when the ban can take influence.

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The U.K. transport office advised British nationals currently in the United Arab Emirates to make use of oblique commercial airline routes if they wished to return to Britain.

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Dubai to London was the world’s busiest global route in January with 190,365 scheduled seats above the month, according to airline details provider OAG.

Emirates and Etihad normally have massive figures of passengers connecting from Britain to destinations like Australia as a result of their airport hubs, that means the conclusion to terminate all those flights will have much-reaching implications.

The Australian government stated it will incorporate additional constitution flights from Britain if required as a consequence of the Emirates and Etihad cancellations.

Eran Ben-Avraham, an Australian stranded in Britain because of to strict boundaries on the number of arrivals in Australia, reported his options for having property were being constantly shrinking.

“At the minute it is only giving us three choices of flying Qatar, ANA or Singapore Airlines,” he informed the Australian Broadcasting Company. “Every single working day it is generating it additional tricky to get home. The flights again are any place from like 4,000 lbs ($5,487).”

(Reporting by William James in London and Jamie Freed in Sydney supplemental reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne Enhancing by William Schomberg, Karishma Singh and Jane Wardell)