The UAE today announced the temporary suspension of passenger flights from Pakistan, after a number of people travelling from there were diagnosed with Covid-19.
The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said flights, including transiting ones, will be suspended with immediate effect until a special laboratory to conduct coronavirus tests is established. This is "a precautionary measure to ensure health and safety of all arrivals, as of Monday 29 June 2020", it said.
Dubai's national carrier, Emirates airlines, suspended its Pakistan services last week when 26 passengers travelling to Hong Kong via Dubai International Airport (DXB) tested positive for the virus. But cargo and repatriation flights to Pakistan will continue to operate during this period, the airline said.
The Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai said it had completed its repatriation operations as of yesterday, with more than 30,000 citizens having left the UAE since the start of the outbreak in the first quarter.
Pakistan's health authorities today announced 3,557 new Covid-19 cases and 49 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 206,512 and deaths to 4,167.
Dubai has only recently begun a phased relaxation of its Covid-19-related air travel restrictions, with citizens and residents allowed to travel in and out of its airports from 22-23 June, and tourists allowed to begin travelling to the country from 7 July.
Commercial flights operating in and out of Abu Dhabi's international airport (AUH) remain suspended, with authorities there taking a more cautious approach to reopening the economy. But special flights continue to operate in and out of AUH.