UK may allow quarantine-free travel to UAE residents

SHARJAH: The United Kingdom may allow vaccinated UAE citizens and residents to travel to the UK without the need to be quarantined from Oct.4, according to the Minister for Middle East and North Africaintheforeign,commonwealth&development Office, James Cleverly.

Cleverlysaidontwiter,“delightedthatinternational travel is opening up. We are finalising arrangements with the UAE to include their nationals and residents in our plans to open up to the fully vaccinated from other countries from Oct.4.”

Cleverly made the statement following a tweet fromthesecretaryofstatefortransportgrantshapps.

Shapps said on Twiter, “TRAVEL UPDATE: We’re making testing easier for travel. From Mon 4 Oct, if you’re fully vax you won’t need a pre-departure test before arrival into England from a non-red country and from later in Oct, will be able to replace the day 2 PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow.” The British government removed the UAE from the red to the amber list ater monitoring the situation in the Emirates in August. Shapps said, “We are committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we’ve made through our successful vaccination programme, helping connect families, friends and businesses around the world.

“While we must continue to be cautious, today’s changesreopenarangeofdifferentholidaydestinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public.”

On the other hand, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office tweeted about the removal of some Asian and Middle Eastern countries from the RED list to its AMBER list.

It said that from 4am Sept.22, the following destinations will move from RED to AMBER list: Bangladesh Egypt Kenya Maldives Oman Pakistan Sri Lanka Turkey

Meanwhile, WAM reported that Emirates is increasing flight frequencies to a number of US destinations starting October.

The airline has been building up connectivity in response to growing customer demand on the back of rising travel confidence and the easing of international travel protocols. There has also been a growing interest from US travellers to visit Dubai, a city that offers something for everyone and will be hosting a number of major events including the World Expo this winter.

Starting October, Emirates will be operating 78 weekly flights to 12 destinations in the US with an increase in weekly flights scheduled for Boston (BOS), Dallas (DFW), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), Seatle (SEA) and Washington DC (IAD).