KOLKATA: An international holiday destination is set to reopen with the United Arab Emirates announcing that it would issue visas to all fully vaccinated tourists from Monday. While Emirates is set to increase the frequency of flights between Dubai and Kolkata once travel demand shoots up, FlyDubai is also going to re-introduce its flights from September.
Etihad may also resume flights between Abu Dhabi and Kolkata. Indian carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India that operated flights between Kolkata and Dubai are also expected to announce their plans sometime during the week.
According to the travel trade community, visas will be issued to all those who are fully inoculated with one of the Covid-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organization at least 14 days before travel. The vaccines that are recognised include AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinopharm and Sinovac. Covishield, which is the Indian brand of AstraZeneca vaccine produced under licence in the country, will be accepted, travel agents said. However, those who have taken Covaxin or Sputnik V are not eligible for travel to the UAE.
The news has brought cheer to the travel trade industry that has had very little outbound business in the past year-and-a-half. “Dubai was the second biggest destination for travellers from Kolkata after Bangkok. With Thailand still shut to tourists, there will be a surge in traffic to Dubai. Though the UK and a few other destinations in Europe are also issuing tourist visas, travelling to Dubai will be less complicated as it is nearer and there is no mandatory quarantine requirement,” pointed out Travel Agents Federation of India chairman (east) Anil Punjabi.
With the UAE also hosting multiple events over the next few months, including the Dubai Expo 2020 trade fair, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Muscat and the unfinished IPL 2021 in Dubai.
“The reopening of Dubai has come at the right time. The Dubai Expo 2020 that will be held from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, is a global event that is held once in four years. Last year, it got cancelled due to the pandemic. Thousands of Indians will be eager to attend this event that is an experience in itself,” said Travel Agents Association of India (chairman) Manav Soni.
The UAE had put India on the red list when the country was passing through the difficult second wave and banned travel to the Emirates to curb the spread of the more virulent delta strain of the virus. Earlier this month, it first opened the doors to those with residency permits and then to transit travellers. The travel trade community hopes that countries in South East Asia will also display a similar measured approach to opening up their economies.
The news about the UAE comes within hours of the Indian civil aviation ministry announcing its decision to resume air bubble flights between India and Bangladesh. That news has already triggered excitement in various sectors in Kolkata, including healthcare and hospitality that is substantially dependent on Bangladeshi patients and tourists.
