Dubai flight ban could mean Doha becomes top UK destination
New York, normally by far the biggest destination from London Heathrow, has fallen to 16th place
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The new flight ban imposed on all services from the UAE to the UK means that Qatar could overtake Dubai as the location with the highest number of passengers travelling to and from Britain.
In December 2020, Dubai was by far the biggest destination with more than 186,000 passengers – one-third of the number in the same month in 2019.
Second place was taken by Amsterdam, with almost 94,000 passengers. But since then the UK has banned all leisure travel and, starting 23 January, the Netherlands grounded all flights to and from the UK.
The third-placed destination, Tenerife, with 60,000 passengers, is now affected by Spanish government rules banning visitors, as well as the UK’s leisure travel prohibition.
But fourth-placed Doha, the hub for Qatar Airways, is not subject to specific restrictions beyond the all-nations requirement for 10 days of self-isolation on arrival in the UK.
While the passenger figures for January and February are not likely to match the 59,000 in December, flights are still continuing. From London Heathrow there are four Qatar Airways departures each day to Doha, as well as one or two daily services from Manchester.
While there are several flights from Edinburgh to Doha each week, they may be affected by Scotland’s plans for “managed isolation” for all direct international arrivals.
The December figures were calculated by Ralph Anker, editor of The Anker Report and former network planner at easyJet and Go.
On the prospect of Qatar becoming the top destination, he said: “Who would have thought that remotely possible under any scenario 40 years ago, when most people probably hadn’t even heard of the place?”
His analysis of December traffic showed Dublin in fifth place, Madrid in sixth, Istanbul seventh and Paris eighth.
New York, normally by far the biggest destination from London Heathrow, is 16th – with fewer than 20,000 passengers during the month. In normal times that would be the total for two days on routes from the UK.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments