Dubai Airports praised the Italian government's decision to remove the 10-day quarantine requirement for passengers travelling from the UAE. With effect from June 2, 2021, all passengers travelling from the UAE to Italy are required to provide a negative COVID-19 test certificate, dated no more than 48 hours before boarding.

Upon arriving at Italian airports of Rome/Fiumicino, Venice/Marco Polo, and Milan/Malpensa, UAE passengers are free to travel across the European nation without strict restrictions, if they present a negative COVID-19 test result.

Furthermore, all passengers above the age of two years will be required to take another rapid antigen test on their arrival at any of the Italian airports. Any passenger who tests positive will have to undergo a period of isolation at a government-authorised hotel in the city they arrive in, according to the COVID-19 protocols applicable across the country.

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths hailed the Italian government's decision as a pragmatic and practical move towards recovery from the global pandemic. He underlined that the decision will allow passengers to travel to Italy in order to fulfil their long-anticipated trips to one of the world's most popular tourist destinations after travel restrictions.

The decision also reflects the confidence of both countries in each other's government's approach and measures to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Underlining that it is one of the important bilateral travel corridors which are crucial to reviving global travel, he further urged other countries to follow Italy's example in leading global recovery after the pandemic.

"The pandemic has caused a lot of social and economic damage and devastated millions of jobs across so many industries over the past 14 months. What the world desperately needs now is a safe return to the mobility and connectivity to aid the momentum of economic recovery, based on prudent risk management rather than risk avoidance," Griffiths added.

After Bahrain, Greece, Serbia, and Seychelles, the UAE-Italy travel corridor is the latest travel corridor agreements signed by the UAE with the aim of supporting post-pandemic recovery. 

WAM