Dubai’s Emirates to increase U.S. flights as restrictions ease

Emirates plans to ramp up flights to the United States as travel restrictions ease further and ahead of the World Expo event in Dubai that’s expected to draw millions of visitors. 

The airline will increase flights to a number of U.S. destinations from October and aims to restore more than 90% of its pre-Covid frequencies to the country by early December. The U.S. this month lowered its travel warning for the United Arab Emirates to level 3 from 4. 

Emirates was hit hard by the pandemic, with widespread border curbs preventing travelers to make the intercontinental journeys in which the carrier specializes. As demand for travel picks up, it has ramped up operations and plans to recruit 3,000 cabin crew and 500 airport services employees to join its Dubai hub over the next six months.

Daily cases have been dropping in the UAE, which has rolled out one of the world’s fastest vaccination programs. Dubai, one of the country’s seven emirates, is preparing to host the Expo event in October and aims to attract 25 million visits over six months.