São Paulo – The United Arab Emirates has not yet resumed commercial flights but has created a “safe corridor” to allow passengers to leave the country. According to Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, 17,498 passengers were transported on 60 flights. The air corridor, he said, can handle up to 48 flights per hour and is expected to expand to 80 aircraft movements per hour, with a total flow of 27,000 passengers.
The next phase of this plan, the minister said, will depend on how the security situation evolves. The corridor was created in coordination with Gulf neighbors. Countries in the region have been targets of retaliatory attacks by Iran, which has been under strikes by the United States and Israel since Saturday (28).
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday (3), the UAE kept its airspace closed to commercial flights, as did Qatar. In the UAE, Emirates and flydubai are operating limited flights. In statements on their websites, Emirates and e Qatar Airways —the two Gulf carriers with direct flights to Brazil—advise passengers not to go to the airport unless contacted by the airlines.
Jordan, in turn, has reopened its airspace to all civilian flights, including landings, takeoffs, and overflights across its territory. The reopening followed a thorough risk assessment carried out in coordination with local authorities, Qatar’s state news agency QNA reported, citing the chairman of the board of commissioners of Jordan’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, Deifallah Al-Farajat.
Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira discussed on Tuesday (3) with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi the “possible scenarios” for the conflict in the coming days. He conveyed “Brazil’s solidarity” and expressed concern over further developments, according to Brazil’s foreign ministry.
Brazil’s embassies in Doha, Qatar, and in Abu Dhabi, UAE, said in statements on Instagram that the Brazilian government is in contact with Saudi authorities to assess the possibility of simplified transit visas as an alternative route out of the Gulf, since Saudi Arabia has not closed its airspace.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
