DUBAI: Dubai airport, one of the world’s busiest travel hubs, is fully operational for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic erupted in March 2020, officials said on Monday.

The opening of sections closed as the Covid-19 crisis took hold comes as the United Arab Emirates records a rise in infections, amid fears of the new Omicron variant.

“Following the opening of the final phase… [the] airport is 100 per cent operational with all terminals, concourses, lounges, restaurants, and retail outlets now open,” a statement carried by the UAEs official WAM news agency said.

Travel via Dubai increases at the end of the year, with foreigners, who make up the majority of the Emirate’s population, heading home for the holidays, while visitors come to celebrate the New Year.

Last year, the Dubai International Airport reported a 70 per cent drop in traffic, from more than 86 million travellers in 2019 to 25.9 million in 2020.

In the first half of this year, 10.6 million people passed through the airport, a 41 per cent drop from the pre-pandemic figures.

Tourism is an economic mainstay of Dubai, which welcomed 16.7 million visitors in 2019.

The UAE, made up of seven emirates, including Dubai, has pushed a comprehensive vaccination campaign for its nearly 10 million population. But the coronavirus infection numbers are again on the rise, with the UAE recording 285 cases on Sunday, compared with just 92 last week.

Dubai is counting on the six-month Expo 2020 trade fair to boost the economy, with more than seven million visits since it opened on October 1.

[embedpost slug=”/saudi-leading-electronics-retailer-chooses-egypt-for-first-expansion-outside-gcc/”]