The UK is set to reopen its borders without condition, to travelers from the United Arab Emirates from October 4,2021. This was disclosed by Transportation Secretary, Grant Shapps.
The reopening comes after months of deterring people from the UAE with costly and strict hotel quarantine requirements. As a major transport hub and home to many British expats, this is great news for reopening international travel, boosting businesses and reuniting families.
This is a relief to many expatriates in the desert country out of which at least 150,000 are British citizens who were unable to visit their families since the U.K put the UAE on a travel red list in January.
The red list designation means that travelers from the UAE, including British citizens, had to quarantine for 10days in a U.K government designated hotel at personal costs if they want to enter the UK.
People living in the UAE had signed a petition demanding that the U.K government change the travel designation but the U.K government had resisted, citing the UAE’s status as a popular travel hub as a high risk factor despite cases of the delta variant sweeping the U.K at the time.
