Category: Middle East

Dubai has decided to open its ice rinks and ski slope, after weeks of closure. Its indoor ski slope has started to draw people in small numbers, with the added protection of surgical masks and gloves. Earlier, this week Dubai had decided to ease restrictions on travel and business. Authorities are trying their best to ensure safety of people, with strict social distancing and cleaning measures. Dubai had implemented a month-long 24-hour curfew in April and has gradually eased restrictions since then, including allowing malls and restaurants to open at limited capacities. This week, there was no restriction on movement ... Read more

Saudi Arabia has announced that domestic flights throughout the kingdom would resume from Sunday. As the COVID-19 crisis eases, the suspension of flights will be lifted in stages to include all domestic destinations within two weeks. The Saudi Arabian General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said, “We have completed operational preparations to gradually lift the suspension of domestic flights, in order to ensure a safe travel journey for travellers through Saudi airports while taking all necessary health measures.” The resumption of flights will take place in stages. The first stage includes 11 airports in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Medinah, Qassim, Abha, ... Read more

Dubai will begin allowing free movement and business activity to restart from tomorrow. There will be no restrictions on movement or business operations between 6 am and 11 pm, the Dubai media office said in a press release. Some retail and wholesale businesses will be allowed to reopen, subject to further sterilisation operations and social distancing measures, the media office tweeted. Those will include cinemas, indoor gyms and education and treatment centres for children. Business and tourism hub Dubai allowed malls to reopen at limited capacity during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that began on April 24. Dubai also ... Read more

Emirates has restarted regular passenger flights to nine international destinations from Dubai airports, and there are new safety procedures in place for travellers. The Dubai airline has launched flights from the UAE to Europe, the US, Canada and Australia from Thursday, May 21. Upon check-in, Emirates will give all passengers free hygiene kits. These will include face masks, gloves, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitiser. The gloves and masks must be worn at the airport and the face masks are also compulsory on all Emirates flights. At Dubai International Airport, thermal temperature scanning is in place and protective barriers have been ... Read more

Qatar Airways has introduced new flight protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its crew will now be equipped with full-body gear. “Cabin crew will wear disposable, full body protective gear during flights while passengers must wear face coverings,” the airline stated in a press release. Other changes include serving meals on a tray in lieu of a table set up in business class, individually wrapped cutlery, sealed meals (standard protocol in economy already), and large bottles of hand sanitizer which will be placed in the galleys. To comply with social distancing requirements, there are no more “social areas” on ... Read more

Dubai Tourism has come out with detailed guidelines for the tourism and hospitality sectors to safeguard travellers. It has said large outdoor tourism activities involving more than five people, sports events, parties, hotel amenities like swimming pools, spas, sauna, gyms and prayer rooms will not be permitted. All outdoor activities involving less than five persons are allowed. Water sports activities, boat and bike rentals, jet skis and sky diving are permitted, in a controlled environment. Public beaches are still closed, except for tourism activities as mentioned. Food and beverages are allowed, but restaurants, cafes and foot stands need to follow ... Read more

Emirates is all set to operate scheduled flights to Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Paris, Sydney and Toronto from May 21. “We are pleased to resume scheduled passenger services to these destinations, providing more options for customers to travel from the UAE to these cities,” Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ chief operating officer said. As several of the destinations currently have travel bans and other entry restrictions in place, the airlines says it will only accept passengers who meet the criteria for entering their destination country. “We have implemented additional measures with the relevant authorities in respect to social distancing ... Read more

Dubai state carrier Emirates Airline has reported a 21% increase in its full-year profit in the 12 months to March 31, though the pandemic cost the carrier over 3.4 billion dirhams in revenues in March. The airline, one of the biggest long-haul carriers in the world, said it made 1.06 billion dirhams ($287.5 million) in that time, up from 871 million dirhams the previous year. But the coming year will be severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the airline’s chairman said. Emirates Airline and Group Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said that from February, things began changing rapidly ... Read more

Air Arabia, the Sharjah-based low-cost airline, has opened regular passenger flight bookings on its online reservation portal with effect from June 1. The move has made the aviation sector sit up and take note, as this was not expected to happen so quickly. The airline had earlier mentioned on its website that the flights are suspended until May 30. Any passenger can now book the flight by visiting the Air Arabia website to destinations including Karachi and Peshawar in Pakistan; Mumbai, Delhi, Trivandrum in India; Dhaka in Bangladesh; Beirut, Lebanon; Cairo, Egypt; Moscow, Russia; and some other European and Eastern ... Read more

Come July, Dubai hopes to reopen itself for tourists. After having halted arrivals last month to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the economic hub wants to encourage travel for business and leisure by July or latest by September. The process will be gradual and could be delayed until September, depending on global trends, Helal Al Marri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. Many countries remain closed and it’s more about the bilateral discussions, Al Marri said. Is it going to be July when things start slowly opening up? ... Read more

Sharjah-based Air Arabia has announced that it will operate new repatriation flights from four cities in India to Sharjah carrying UAE nationals back home. The special flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Sharjah International Airport took off on Monday, while special flights from Cochin and Hyderabad to Sharjah International Airport will take off on April 22. The airline said, “Air Arabia remains committed to bring stranded citizens back home as well as supporting requests to operate repatriation flights and is working closely with UAE authorities in this regard. The airline announced earlier that it is operating a mix of repatriation ... Read more

UAE carriers, Etihad and Flydubai, have announced additional repatriation flights to help the stranded passengers get back to their respective countries. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways declared that it has opened bookings to additional special passenger flights to Brussels, Dublin, London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita and Zurich. These new special flights will operate between April 14 to April 22. The carrier said it continues to operate special passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to several destinations including Amsterdam, Jakarta, Manila, Melbourne, Seoul Incheon, and Singapore. Budget carrier Flydubai also opened bookings for repatriation flights to 13 countries. But all the flights are subject ... Read more

Amid the corona virus pandemic that has grounded a majority of planes across the world, Qatar Airways Cargo has said it has started 19 weekly flights between Doha and India to get goods such as pharmaceutical products using its passenger aircraft. These flights are scheduled to start from Wednesday. “These flights will be in addition to the cargo carrier’s existing freighter services and have been introduced as a result of strong demand for Indian products such as pharmaceuticals and fresh produce,” a press statement by the airline said. The airline will operate freight-only passenger aircraft to Delhi (3 weekly flights), ... Read more

Oman Air will operate an evacuation flight on April 3 to three destinations namely Kochi, Bengaluru and Chennai to lift Omani nationals stranded in India. The Sultanate of Oman has secured permits from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Director General of Civil Aviation to operate the flight. The authorities concerned are requested to issue passes for any Omani national wanting to travel to the nearest airport to board the flight without any hindrance, the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman said.

Dubai has promised financial assistance for state-owned carrier Emirates as various international airlines look for government bailouts amid the corona virus pandemic. The government will inject new equity into the carrier, one of the world’s leading long-haul airlines, during this “critical period”, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the crown prince, said in a statement, according a Financial Times report. Dubai is the latest government to intervene in the sector reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. The global airline industry will burn through $61bn of their cash reserves during the second quarter of this year, according to the latest forecast from ... Read more