Summer vacations, a long weekend for Eid Al Adha holidays, and the mother of all events, Expo 2020 Dubai. Add extensive vaccination campaigns across the region and beyond. Throw in a healthy sprinkling of precautionary steps. Add a pinch of precision logistics. A smidgen of cautious reopening of flights from major source markets. And finally a dash of typical Dubai optimism. There, you’ve got yourselves the perfect ‘back to business’ recipe.

Dubai anticipates a surge in tourist arrivals thanks to a slew of happy occasions over the forthcoming months. So it’s doing what Dubai does best – plan for it. Vaccinated passengers with a negative PCR test result can now travel to Dubai from major source countries including India, South Africa and Nigeria (requirements are subject to change; please check official sources for latest information).

To cope with an expected surge in visitors, the emirate has announced that it will reopen Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport (DXB). “This move signals our confidence that the outlook for the rest of the year and beyond is one of optimism, as well as being a clear indication of Dubai’s intent to lead the aviation industry in its efforts to enable social and economic recovery of the world,” tweeted Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, and CEO and founder of the Emirates Group.

“Dubai’s aviation sector has been at the forefront of a global campaign to restore vital international air services with the opening of quarantine-free travel corridors between the UAE and multiple countries around the world,” said Sheikh Ahmed.

By the end of June 2021, 66 airlines will move their operations back to Terminal 1, Dubai Airports’ chief executive Paul Griffiths told Bloomberg TV. The reopening of Terminal 1 and Concourse D will afford it muscle to handle an additional 18 million passengers, said Griffiths.

The entire airport has a capacity of handling up to 100 million passengers a year. Operations at the terminal were suspended in March 2020 after measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global travel. DXB is the world’s busiest airport for international travel, and its traffic was proportionately affected.

Dubai’s Emirates airline, the world’s largest international airline and UAE flag carrier, saw its revenues decline by 66 per cent to Dh30.9 billion ($8.4 billion) due to the temporary suspension of passenger flights at its Dubai hub in March 2020 and ongoing global travel disruptions.

Click here to read what Dubai Ruler has to say about Emirates airline’s first financial loss in 33 years and the UAE’s ability to cope with emergencies.

Dubai now expects a V-shaped recovery thanks to its robust infrastructure and the fact that worldwide travellers have faith in its ability to offer them a healthy, secure and enjoyable travel experience under any circumstances.

“People think it [travel demand] will trickle back. I don’t believe that. I believe it will be an absolute flood of demand when people get the confidence to travel again,” Griffiths told Reuters.

DXB could see over 40 million passengers this year if it was “really, really lucky,” said Griffiths even as he admitted it was likely to be somewhere between 24.7 million and 34.3 million. “We’re comfortable with that mid-range of about 28 (million).”

The airport plans to hire 3,500 staff in the coming weeks to cope with the expected surge in traffic.