Britain is banning direct passenger flights to and from the United Arab Emirates from Friday, shutting down the world's busiest international airline route from Dubai to London.
Britain said it was adding the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda to its coronavirus travel ban list because of worries over the spread of a more contagious and potentially vaccine-resistant COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa.
"This means people who have been in or transited through these countries will be denied entry, except British, Irish and third country nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for ten days at home," UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps said on Twitter on Thursday.
Emirates and Etihad Airways said on their websites they would suspend all UK passenger flights from 1300 GMT on Friday when the ban takes effect. Dubai airport, in a statement, advised passengers booked on flights due to arrive in the UK after the ban comes into effect to not go to the airport and instead contact their airline.
The UK transport department advised British nationals currently in the United Arab Emirates to make use of indirect commercial airline routes if they wished to return to Britain.
Due to border closures caused by COVID-19, Dubai to London was the world's busiest international route in January with 190,365 scheduled seats over the month, according to airline data provider OAG.
Emirates and Etihad normally carry large numbers of passengers connecting from Britain to destinations like Australia through their airport hubs, meaning the decision to cancel those flights will have far-reaching implications.
The Australian government said it will add more charter flights from Britain if needed as a result of the Emirates and Etihad cancellations.
Eran Ben-Avraham, an Australian stranded in Britain due to strict limits on the number of arrivals in Australia, said his options for getting home were continually shrinking."
At the moment it is only giving us three options of flying Qatar, ANA or Singapore Airlines," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation/
"Every day it is making it more difficult to get home The flights back are anywhere from like 4,000 pounds ($5,487)."
UAE Possible Candidate To Host Women's T20 World Cup 2024, Bangladesh Ask For More Time Taliban Mark 3 Years In Power Since Afghanistan Takeover With Military Show Pakistan vs UAE, Women's Asia Cup 2024 Highlights: Muneeba Ali, Gull Feroza Shine As Pakistan Beat UAE By 10 Wickets Parents Gave Names Of Interns, Doctors To CBI In Kolkata Horror: Sources Who Is Jasveen Sangha, "Ketamine Queen" Charged With Matthew Perry's Death How Extreme Weather Is Leading To Rise In Child Marriages In Pakistan 'INDIA' Is with You Against "Injustice": Rahul Gandhi To Arvind Kejriwal "Strong Indications" Bangladesh Security Forces Used "Unnecessary" Force: UN Delhi Experienced 15 Consecutive Days Of Rainfall, Says Weather Department Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.