Paul Griffiths oversees what now is a much quieter Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and crucial to East-West travel. The millions that once poured through the airport’s concourses are no longer flying as countries around the world enforce lockdowns and travel bans to fight the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes.
Though government-owned Emirates plans to restart some flights next week, Griffiths told The Associated Press that the airport has yet to find a workable coronavirus or antibody test to administer on a massive scale to passengers. Until a vaccine or a permanent solution to the virus exists, there could be “quite a low level of activity for quite some time,” he said.
“I think the thing is there are a lot of people that are offering conjecture, whether it’s 18 months or two years or less or more,” Griffiths said in an interview Wednesday. “But the problem is it’s all conjecture. The honest answer is no one really knows.”
The airport known as DXB saw 86.4 million passengers in 2019, 6 million more than second-place Heathrow Airport in London. That’s down 3% from 2018 when Dubai had 89.1 million passengers.
But air travel this year has been disrupted by the virus. In the first quarter, Dubai International Airport’s passenger numbers dropped by nearly a fifth to 17.8 million compared to last year. Cargo and repatriation flights have been flying, however.
Beginning May 21, Emirates plans to operate flights to nine cities, including Chicago; Frankfurt, Germany; London; Madrid; Milan; Paris; Toronto; and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. Already, attendants on Emirates flights wear gloves, masks and other protective gear.
In the airport, customers and staff alike wear masks and disposable gloves. Thermal heat scanners look over passengers and they have experimented with both coronavirus and antibody tests, Griffiths said. However, the
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
AIRBUS-BOEING DEAL EASES US EU TENSIONS BUT CONFLICTS REMAIN
The deal the United States and the European Union reached this week to end their long-running rift over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus will suspend billions in punitive tariffs. It will ease trans-Atlantic tensions. And it will let the two sides focus on a common economic threat: China.
AMAZON ALLOTS $300 MILLION FOR HOUSING NEAR MASS TRANSIT
Amazon is providing $300 million in low-interest loans to support housing located near mass transit in the Washington, D.C., area and the Seattle and Nashville, Tennessee, regions.
CAN YOU MIX AND MATCH COVID-19 VACCINES?
Can you mix and match two-dose COVID-19 vaccines?
INTERNET OUTAGES BRIEFLY DISRUPT ACCESS TO WEBSITES, APPS
A wave of brief internet outages hit the websites and apps of dozens of financial institutions, airlines and other companies across the globe Thursday and Friday.
CASSILL TO BE PAID IN CRYPTOCURRENCY IN DEAL WITH VOYAGER
Landon Cassill will be the first NASCAR driver paid entirely in cryptocurrency in a sponsorship deal with Voyager that begins at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHINA'S NEW SPACE STATION
Adding a crew to China’s new orbiting space station is another major advance for the burgeoning space power.
HONG KONG WATCHING CHINESE NUCLEAR PLANT AFTER LEAK REPORTED
China’s government said Tuesday no abnormal radiation was detected outside a nuclear power plant near Hong Kong following a news report of a leak, while Hong Kong’s leader said her administration was closely watching the facility.
‘A SUMMER OF FREEDOM': VACCINE GIVES NEW MEANING TO JULY 4TH
President Joe Biden wants to imbue Independence Day with new meaning this year by encouraging nationwide celebrations to mark the country’s effective return to normalcy after 16 months of coronavirus pandemic disruption and more than 600,000 lives lost.
SELF-DRIVING CAR PIONEER WAYMO GETS $2.5B TO FUEL AMBITIONS
Waymo, the self-driving car pioneer spun off from Google, isn’t allowing a recent wave of executive departures to detour its plans to expand its robotic taxi service.
LOUISIANA CREATES RULES FOR SELF-DRIVING DELIVERY DEVICES
Louisiana has created a framework for self-driving delivery robots to drop off packages on the state’s streets, under a bill backed by lawmakers and Gov. John Bel Edwards.
WALK THE LINE
THERE’S A LOT TO LIKE ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA’S PROPOSED SUSTAINABLE CITY. BUT IT’S ALSOE 105 MILES LONG, AND THAT’S JUST BEGINNING OF OUR PUZZLEMENT.
THE DISRUPTORS
AFTER AN UNPREDICTABLE MATCH, EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND DEFENDED THE 36TH AMERICA’S CUP – AND COULD ALREADY BE SHAKING THINGS UP FOR THE 37TH. MATTHEW SHEAHAN REPORTS FROM AUCKLAND
Taking the fifth
The freedoms of the air are the bedrock of the aviation industry – and the fifth is perhaps the most important
Elly Griffiths
Elly Griffiths is a true woman of mystery. Born Domenica de Rosa—the name under which she began writing fiction—it was only after switching genres that she adopted the alternate identity that has become familiar to readers the world over.
मुंबई से दुबई जाने वाली एमिरेट्स की फ्लाइट में भावेश जावेरी इकलौते शख्स थे
हाल ही में एमिरेट्स की मुंबई से दुबई की उड़ान में केवल एक यात्री सवार था, और पायलट से लेकर चालक दल तक सभी इस असामान्य घटना से चकित थे।
SCRF 2021 expands cultural reach to Dubai, Fujairah, RAK
Residents and visitors at Dibba Al Hisn can meet author Dr. Hussein Ali Haref for a spirited and lively open discussion on a broad range of topics
A value proposition
How the upcoming Emirates Amateur Golf League can prove to be a financial windfall for team owners, investors and sponsors
SENSORIAL SOLITUDE
Pallavi Dean of creative practice Roar pays an ode to Asian architecture in her design of this serene spa in Dubai
कोरोना का असर:कोलकाता-शिलॉन्ग रुट की विमान सेवा अस्थायी रुप से बंद
एअरलाइंस कंपनी एमिरेट्स ने यात्रियों को ले जाने पर लगायी रोक
ERC provides Ramadan aid to Sudanese families in 7 states
The ERC is working in coordination with the UAE Embassy in Khartoum and local partners in Sudan to immediately deliver aid to the eligible people in different states