Dubai International Airport closes its doors to regular traffic

With Emirates and FlyDubai grounded, along with the closing of borders in the United Arab Emirates – it’s no surprise the main hub – Dubai International Airport has closed to visitors and passengers.

Airbus A380s lining up on the taxiway at Dubai International – Image, Dubai International Airport

The closure is planned for the next two weeks, subject to reassessment.

The airfield will not grind to a halt – activity such as cargo operations and emergency evacuation flights will operate.

However, for the travelling public, both at Dubai International and Dubai World Central (DWC) are closed to them. This is from a peak of the airport handling over 86 million passengers in 2019 to the barest trickle.

Whilst some use Dubai International as a stopover, it’s one of the main crossing points in the world for passengers to change aircraft and continue destination – and that has been true up until very recently as the people attempt to get home.

With Dubai International Airport closed – another major gateway vanishes.

Opinion: Options to get “home” are drying up fast.

If you’re travelling for non-essential purposes, most governments are advising citizens to come home and self-isolate. However, those options are drying up fast, with Dubai now gone. In addition, other hubs have already responded (such as Abu Dhabi, Istanbul and Singapore), with traffic flows vanishing.

If you need to be “home” and you’re intending flying – make that decision sooner rather than later.

Else, you might find yourself stuck and will have to ride out the Coronavirus/Covid-19/Human Malware without support from your government and obey the rules of where you are.

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