Dubai International Airport (DIA) could be set to open the UAE’s second customs post of the United States within the next year as Washington seeks to expand its pre-clearance travel facilities around the world.
According to the US ambassador to the UAE, Michael Corbin, plans to open an immigration pre-clearance facility at DIA could be as little as 10 months away.
"It is a US government priority to extend the US pre-clearance concept around the world because it does encourage travel to the United States, ease the congestion in our airports and it provides safe travel," Mr Corbin told reporters in Los Angeles.
“We are looking at Dubai as an option. We’re looking at different places around the Middle East and around the world because this is a concept that the US government believes strongly in,” he added.
Abu Dhabi International Airport established a post in January operated by US officials who can screen passengers before they board flights, avoiding long immigration lines at the other end. According to the ambassador, 85 per cent of the costs of the facility are borne by the federal government of the UAE, although he declined to say how much would it cost for the facility to operate.
Mr Corbin was speaking at an Etihad Airways event to mark the launch of a route direct from Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles which has been heavily marketed around the new pre-clearance facility.
“I think [the Abu Dhabi pre-clearance facility] it’s a game-changer for Etihad,” said the Etihad president and chief executive James Hogan. “To clear customs in Abu Dhabi and then arrive in America after a 15-17 hour flight and walk through as a domestic customer is a major benefit because at the end of the day it’s all about time.”
However, the ambassador admitted that the establishment of a pre-clearance facility in Dubai was more complicated than its Abu Dhabi counterpart because many more airlines fly from Dubai to the US. He also said that the fact that some airlines would have to move their base to the new Dubai World Central airport was also complicating negotiations.
Speaking earlier this year, the Emirates president and chief executive Sir Tim Clark said that the move would create logistical challenges for carriers.
“It is being looked at in Dubai by the Government,” Mr Clark said. “But there are some logistical difficulties with the way we go about that in Dubai. Certain things have got to change, but it is being talked about between the two governments.”
Abu Dhabi’s pre-clearance facility, which opened in January, was the first established by the US government in the eastern hemisphere. Facilities also exist in Ireland, Canada and the Caribbean.
Etihad launched direct flights from Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles on June 1.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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