Dubai is set to reopen its borders to international tourists three-and-a-half months after they were first closed. While limited flights resumed in early April, only residents and citizens are currently permitted to enter the United Arab Emirates city-state.Emirates is used to ferrying many tourists to and from Dubai, with even more passengers connecting through its hub while traveling from A to B. However, the current pandemic hit the airline hard. It was forced to suspend flights in March due to a government directive. While flights have since resumed, operations have been greatly restricted.

Tourism is back on the cards

However, while most of the world remains closed to tourism, this won't be the case for Dubai for much longer. The city-state is set to begin allowing international tourists back from July 7th onwards. There will be some strings attached to arriving in the country, though.

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Passengers arriving at Dubai International Airport (DXB) will need to have a certificate stating that they have taken a PCR test for coronavirus that generated a negative result. This test may be administered in the four days preceding travel. Recently Lufthansa mooted launching tests for passengers departing Frankfurt and Munich.

If a passenger arrives with a test and does not show any symptoms of the virus, they will not need to self isolate on arrival. However, if they have not taken a check or arrive with signs of the illness, they will be tested at the airport. These passengers will then be sent to self-isolate until the test result is back.

Other measures

As has been the case with many countries recently, tourists traveling to Dubai will need to sign a health declaration. Additionally, all those entering Dubai, be they residents or tourists, will need to sign a statement stating that they will meet any related costs that arise should they have the virus.

All passengers will also need to download the COVID-19 DXB app. This is a government-issued app that will allow travelers to register their details.

Good news for Emirates?

The news that Dubai is reopening to tourists will come as a boon to Emirates. The airline, Dubai's primary carrier, had seen its passenger operations halted by the current crisis. However, things can start to get moving again now.

The airline operates both the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380. However, due to its severely restricted network, the airline's 777 fleet has been substantial enough to cover all operations. The airline anticipates that the A380 will return to its fleet, but exactly when is still unknown.

Earlier in June, the government permitted Emirates to resume connecting flights through its Dubai hub. The airline currently has plans to offer connecting flights to and from 40 cities. The passenger base that the airline has access to will be significantly increased by today's announcement by Dubai that tourism can resume.

Commenting on the news, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive said,

“The next few weeks will be a big test for the whole aviation industry in many ways. At Emirates we see a positive trend of traffic building up across our network over the past weeks, and we are ready to serve our customers.”

Are you keen to return to Dubai? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!