• Members of the military personnel patrol a hotel area and the beaches in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. EPA
    Members of the military personnel patrol a hotel area and the beaches in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. EPA
  • A motorcyclist rides along an otherwise empty street in Bangkok. AFP
    A motorcyclist rides along an otherwise empty street in Bangkok. AFP
  • Health workers collect blood samples from a child to detect the coronavirus, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. AFP
    Health workers collect blood samples from a child to detect the coronavirus, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. AFP
  • A man walks his dog in front of the Colosseum in central Rome. AFP
    A man walks his dog in front of the Colosseum in central Rome. AFP
  • Migrants wearing protective facemasks hurry to renew work and residence permits in Russia at a migration centre in Saint Petersburg. AFP
    Migrants wearing protective facemasks hurry to renew work and residence permits in Russia at a migration centre in Saint Petersburg. AFP
  • A cyclist stops in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, with the Washington Monument lit by the setting sun at rear, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues in Washington, US. Reuters
    A cyclist stops in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, with the Washington Monument lit by the setting sun at rear, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues in Washington, US. Reuters
  • The deserted Place de la Concorde with the Eiffel tower in the background in Paris. Reuters
    The deserted Place de la Concorde with the Eiffel tower in the background in Paris. Reuters
  • Residents climb on chairs to buy groceries from vendors behind barriers used to seal off a neighborhood in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. AP Photo
    Residents climb on chairs to buy groceries from vendors behind barriers used to seal off a neighborhood in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. AP Photo

Transport

Coronavirus: Britons stranded by pandemic to be allowed to transit in UAE

UK diplomat praises work of UAE officials as Memorandum of Understanding agreed

Jamie Prentis
Jamie Prentis
London

April 05, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Chartered flights carrying stranded Britons home will be allowed to transit via the Emirates under a new deal between the UAE and UK.

UK ambassador the Emirates Patrick Moody praised the work of UAE officials in enabling the agreement.

UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said that "only by working together" would coronavirus be beaten.

Under the agreement, the flights chartered by the UK will be allowed to transit and refuel in the UAE on the way back.

The agreement was signed by Khalid Belhoul, UAE Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, and Mr Moody.

The UK Foreign Office said its embassy in Abu Dhabi would work closely with the UAE government to bring the agreement into action.

"The UK government is doing everything it can to get British travellers stranded abroad home. This agreement – a result of the very close partnership between the UK and UAE governments – will help do just that, keeping vital transit options open," Mr Moody said.

“I am very grateful to my colleague HE Khalid Abdullah Humaid Belhoul and his whole team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation for their support and for our joint work to beat Covid-19.”

State news agency Wam reported: "The memorandum reaffirms the long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries and ongoing co-operation in all fields, asserting the commitment of both parties to all appropriate measures to prevent the further spread of the global epidemic."

In an “unprecedented” effort, hundreds of UAE citizens were repatriated from the UK in recent weeks as the coronavirus spread.

The UK's Prince Charles and Prime Minister Boris Johnson contracted the virus.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, was among those to wish them a speedy recovery.

CoronavirusUK government