First things first. I’d like to put a disclaimer out there. This trip was not for pleasure nor was it for content (pleasure presented as work). This was a business trip, which had to happen at this particular time and there was no other choice. I travelled to Dubai from London in the month of December 2020 and I was there for almost the whole month. Here, I will document this once in a lifetime (hopefully) experience.
Back in December 2020, Dubai was on the corridor list of countries you can travel to and from England. As I write this now in February 2021, I know things have changed a little. To travel to Dubai then all that was needed was a negative PCR test that was done a couple days before the flight and it was to be presented at the airport in Dubai. No restrictions were in place by England or Dubai as to the purpose of travel. So, a very straightforward experience really. No issues at Heathrow and as expected the plane was more or less empty. So, pretty comfortable in that regard. I did have to wear a face mask the WHOLE time though, which was very difficult.
Once the long flight was over (long because of the face mask), the Dubai airport took me by surprise. I got there around midnight and it was absolutely packed. Everyone had to wear face masks here too, but social distancing? Forget about it. I mean how are you going to enforce social distancing in one of the busiest airports in the world. Coincidentally, my Kareem (the Arab world’s Uber) driver who picked me up said that it had been quiet up until this very night. Hmmmm. Anyway, because of the size of the airport and how many staff they have at the passport check desks, everything usually always runs very efficiently. And this night was no different. At the passport control desk, funnily enough, the PCR test wasn’t even checked (maybe I could have saved a bit of money there then?). I then called myself a Kareem and he drove me to my hotel. At the hotel reception they actually did check my PCR test and took a copy of it too. And they always checked my temperature upon entrance to the hotel.
Much like the rest of the world, Dubai was also heavily affected by the coronavirus, the Covid-19. It’s initial peak was in March 2020 and subsequently they acted quickly and very strongly. The Emirate went into a lockdown (each of the Emirates have their own laws) for 3 whole months. And it was a proper lockdown. No one was allowed out of their houses and if they did want to go out, they’d need official permission from the government. And the permission itself will dictate when they go out – a time slot of 3 hours is given on a specific day. Once you go out, you need to provide evidence that you purchased something at that time. And then you cannot go out for another 3 days. Now, that’s a lockdown. The metro had a queuing system and everyone had to wear a mask everywhere! Non-compliance resulted in heavy fines and also passport confiscations! This had a positive impact as by the time I got there, the numbers had decreased and as a result most of the above rules were lifted. With one exception – the face mask.
This information is as of December 2020, with the nature of the pandemic everything is changing so frequently. You have to wear the face mask everywhere – on the streets, restaurants, hotels, malls, shops, mosques, the metro, offices… EVERYWHERE. If you are found not wearing the face mask, you will be fined heavily and your passport will be confiscated. And you’ll have to go to the police station to go pick it up. They’ve got the army out enforcing the rules and it didn’t take me long to witness this. A couple of days into my stay I saw a couple of Army men come to a local restaurant and thoroughly check out their kitchen and then have a lengthy discussion with the owner.
The restaurants, malls and metro are all open and functioning as normal. And as the end of December got nearer and nearer the people/tourists in the city increased. Whether it be in the malls or the restaurants, there was always a lot of people. You wouldn’t think it was in the middle of a pandemic.
Non-compliance resulted in heavy fines and also passport confiscations!
I ended up staying a week longer than planned because some work related affairs didn’t go as planned. I flew back to England on the 25th of December, so understandably the airplane was more or less empty once again as was Heathrow. No PCR tests were required upon landing and the only thing I had to do was fill out a form prior to boarding the plane at Dubai. Straightforward really.
All in all, an easy and straightforward experience to be honest without too many complications. I understand things are different now and they will probably be different next month, but this was my experience of traveling to Dubai in December 2020.
