DUBAI: The Emirates Airline chairman has hinted that the UAE could make it off the UK”s travel red list over the next week.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum made the disclosure in an interview with Bloomberg TV at this week’s Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

He said he was hopeful of news about the UAE being taken off the UK red list within the next week.

The UK has allowed the resumption of overseas travel from this week with destinations being given a red, amber or green designation. Travelers visiting red countries must pay for a 10-day hotel quarantine stay as well as a pre-departure test and two PCR tests on their return to the UK.

Asked if he thought the UK was being transparent enough in clarifying what conditions must be in place for a country to moved from red to amber to green status, he replied: “I don’t think so. It is very difficult to understand.  I think we proved to the world that the UAE today is in the top three in terms of vaccinations. We have more than 150,000 British citizens that live here. I’m sure they want to go back home to their country.”

British tourists have long been an important source of tourism revenue for the emirate. However the UAE has been on the country’s red list for travel since mid-January.

Emirates Airline expects to operate at 70 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity by the end of this year, Al-Maktoum revealed.

He said the company maintained strong financial solvency despite the devastating impact of the pandemic on the global aviation sector, Bloomberg reported.

The Dubai flag carrier may obtain further financial support from the Dubai government and could also issue bonds, he said.

“We are dealing with an emergency situation that changes on a weekly or even daily basis,” he said. “We are working on long and short trips. We currently have 151 Boeing 777 planes, and about 20 Airbus A380s in service, and we are awaiting the opening of markets and destinations to gradually return them,” he said.

Emirates Airline and flydubai were working to improve cooperation and develop further partnerships, he added.