Scotland lifts ban on direct flights from the UAE

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) issued the new update for the UAE which came into force at 4am although international travel remains illegal under current lockdown restrictions in Scotland and the wider UK.

It did not give a reason for the change but it comes as coronavirus cases in the UAE continue to stabilise.

On Friday, the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced 1,875 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 480,006.

MoHAP also announced three deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 1,526, while an additional 1,939 individuals have fully recovered from Covid-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 464,971.

Around 1.5 million British nationals visit the UAE every year.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday that Brits can start thinking about booking foreign holidays again this summer.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is the first time I’m able to come on and say I’m not advising against booking foreign holidays.

“Yes, you’ll want to check what the situation is in two or three weeks’ time when that list – the green, amber, red, is produced – you’ll want to know that you’ve got good holiday insurance and flexible flights and the rest of it.

“But for the first time I think there is light at the end of the tunnel and we’ll be able to restart international travel, including cruises by the way, in a safe and secure way, knowing about the vaccinations, everything we know about the disease this year, and of course that abundance of caution – having the tests in place.”

The traffic light system will grade foreign destinations as being:

• Green: Passengers will not need to quarantine on return, but must take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on return to the UK
• Amber: Travellers will need to quarantine for 10 days, as well as taking a pre-departure test and two PCR tests
• Red: Passengers will have to pay for a 10-day stay in a managed quarantine hotel, as well as a pre-departure test and two PCR tests

The government has not yet said which countries will be green, amber or red – but said it would do so by early May, with international travel on May 17 at the earliest.

Currently, non-resident arrivals to the UK from 36 countries – including the UAE – are required to travel straight to a government-mandated hotel for 10 days at a cost of £1,750 per adult.

According to a World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) spokesperson, there will be a strong pent-up demand for both business and leisure travel between the UK and the UAE once the current travel ban is lifted.

In the first half of November 2020, when the UAE was briefly added to Britain’s list of quarantine-free countries, flight bookings from the UK to Dubai rose to over 50 percent of the levels in the equivalent period in 2019, according to ForwardKeys data.