UAE. Dubai Airports has welcomed the resumption of scheduled operations by foreign carriers at Dubai International (DXB), alongside the reopening of a range of shopping and dining outlets.
Some 13 international airlines resumed scheduled flights this week as Dubai opened its skies and welcomed tourists from 7 July. The carriers include Air Blue, Air France, Cebu Pacific, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, Gulf Air, KLM, Lufthansa, Mahan Air, Middle East Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Philippine Airlines and Royal Jordanian, with more expected to join later. DXB-based Emirates and flydubai have also boosted their schedules this month.
Shops, cafés and restaurants have begun to open, led by anchor retailer Dubai Duty Free in departures and arrivals. In addition, Travelex, Le Clos and Costa have opened in Terminal 3 arrivals.
F&B options in T3 departures include FIX, The Daily DXB and The Hangar. Shops open include Boots and H&M as well as Dubai Duty Free.
At Terminal 2 services available include Travelex currency exchange, Boots and selected cafés and restaurants, including Starbucks, Subway and McDonalds.
“We have ensured everything is in place to welcome airlines from around the world back to Dubai as a growing number of bilateral agreements between countries conclude to facilitate the opening of borders and the gradual return of traffic,” said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths.
“Our ability to resume passenger operations has been enabled by the significant and early steps the UAE government took to tackle the threat of the spread of the virus, together with the robust health and safety measures in place at DXB, and the excellent advanced healthcare services available here in Dubai. We remain in close discussions with government officials and airlines to support the resumption of additional services as approvals are granted in the weeks and months ahead. The message is that we are ready to welcome visitors back to Dubai and we will do our utmost to take care of them while they are here.”
Passengers are required to wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (masks and gloves) and arrive to the airport no less than two hours but no greater than four hours before their flight to allow time for any additional screening measures.
Precautionary measures include protective plexiglass at check-in and immigration counters, thermal and temperature screening, physical distancing markers and increased levels of sanitisation across the airport.
*Click on the link to hear Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin talk in late June about plans to restart the business in our Podcast series, ‘In Crisis – Travel Retail Voices’.
The company will also be turning out in force at the Virtual Travel Retail Expo from 12-16 October. As reported, the world’s biggest single airport travel retail business is offering registered visitors to the Expo a chance every week between now and the event to win US$1 million or a luxury car. Registration is free to all travel retailer companies, airport executives and exhibitors. A final grand draw will be held at the Expo itself. Click here or on the link above to register.
