DUBAI — The
United Arab Emirates will on Thursday lift a ban on transit flights including
from India and Pakistan, the National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority
(NCEMA) said on Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
India and Pakistan are
important markets for Emirates, Etihad Airways, and other
UAE carriers flydubai
and Air Arabia.
The Gulf state, a major
international travel hub, had banned passengers from many South Asian and
African states travelling through its airports this year because of the
coronavirus pandemic.
NCEMA said on Twitter
that passengers travelling from countries where flights had been banned would
be able to transit through its airports from August 5 as long as they present a
negative
PCR coronavirus test taken 72 hours prior to departure.
Final destination approval
would also have to be provided, the authority said, adding that UAE departure
airports would arrange separate lounges for transiting passengers.
The transit ban had also
included Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Nigeria.
Dubai state carrier
Emirates welcomed the government’s decision to allow travel to resume from the
affected countries. There was no immediate comment from other UAE airlines on
the announcement, which also eased an entry ban on residents returning from
countries where flights had been suspended.
NCEMA said a ban on entry
to the UAE for passengers from these countries would also be lifted for those
with valid residencies and who are certified by Emirati authorities as fully
vaccinated.
However, they would need
to apply for online entry permits prior to travelling and would need to present
a negative PCR test taken 48 hours prior to departure.
Those working in the
medical, educational or government sectors in the Gulf Arab state as well as
those studying or completing medical treatment in the UAE would be exempt from
the vaccination requirement as would humanitarian cases.
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