International Flights news: As Dubai eases travel curbs for passengers from India, Emirates airline said it will resume flights connecting India, South Africa and Nigeria to the city from June 23.
Leading Dubai-based airline Emirates announced that it will resume international flights connecting India, South Africa and Nigeria for travellers planning to fly to Dubai. The development comes as a huge relief for Indian passengers. The announcement comes after the Dubai government eased travel protocols for inbound international passenger flights from the three nations. International flights from India were banned by the UAE late April due to the second wave of coronavirus here.
Who will be able to travel
International flights to Dubai will begin on June 23, Dubai’s Gulf News reported. According to the new travel protocols, those who have a valid residence visa and have received both doses of any UAE-approved coronavirus vaccine — Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik V and Oxford-AstraZeneca — will be allowed to enter Dubai.
“Emirates welcomes the latest protocols and measures announced by Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management to allow the safe resumption of passenger travel from South Africa, Nigeria and India to Dubai and onwards,” said the airline’s spokesperson in a statement.
On Saturday, the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai said that the passengers from India with a valid residence visa who have received two doses of a UAE-approved vaccine will be allowed to travel to Dubai, Gulf News reported.
They should also present a negative test certificate from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure.
Passengers travelling to Dubai from India are required to undergo a rapid PCR test four hours prior to departure, as well as another RT-PCR test on arrival in Dubai.
In addition to that, passengers from India should undergo institutional quarantine upon arrival until they receive their PCR test result, which is expected to be received in 24 hours.
For those travelling from South Africa and Nigeria, non-residence visa is also allowed subject to the full vaccination and PCR tests. Passengers must carry a negative test certificate with a mandatory QR code from a PCR test at least 48 hours before departure, according to the Gulf News report. The UAE nationals are exempted from this requirement.
Emirates had suspended passenger flights from India effective until July 6, 2021.
However, UAE nationals, holders of UAE Golden Visas, and members of diplomatic missions who comply with the revised published COVID-19 protocols were exempted from these travel restrictions.
