UAE - Mubasher: The number of international visitors is likely to more than double through Dubai Airports in 2022 as the global travel sector is recovering amid the ease of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, Dubai Airports Chief Executive Paul Griffiths told Bloomberg Television.

Griffiths remarked that lifting travel restrictions between Dubai and other countries, including the UK, US, and Saudi Arabia, will have a great impact on the UAE, with around 27 million people passing through this year alone.

Dubai Airports Chief Executive referred to high confidence in Dubai that the UAE will be listed among countries that are not considered by the UK as high-risk for coronavirus infections from 4 October.

The UK recently announced that it would decrease testing requirements for visitors for more countries and recognise coronavirus vaccines circulated in 17 countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Israel.

On 17 September, Britain’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, James Cleverly, said on his official Twitter account that the country is completing the arrangements to include the UAE in its plans to open up to the fully vaccinated from 4 October.

"There’s a minor technical issue that’s already been resolved and we’re expecting an announcement very shortly," Griffiths commented.

Noteworthy to mention, on 20 September, Emirates announced that it will raise the number of flights to US destinations from October 2021 to meet the growing customer needs following the ease of travel restrictions and the rising travel confidence.