UAE suspends flights from four African countries

: Oil products
21/12/26

The UAE has suspended passenger flights arriving from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Nigeria from 25 December until further notice as part of efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19 variant Omicron.

The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) said it is suspending inbound flights from the four African countries, as well as entry of passengers who were in these countries during 14 days before coming to the UAE.

But flight operations will continue to transport passengers –- except for UAE citizens, from the UAE to the same countries. UAE citizens can only travel to these countries for emergency treatment cases, as part of official delegations, or because of scholarships.

The GCAA and NCEMA said passengers travelling to the UAE from these countries via a third country must stay in that country for at least 14 days before being allowed to enter the UAE. UAE citizens and their first degree relatives, diplomatic missions, official delegations and golden residence visa holders will be exempt from the new restrictions, although they will have to undergo a ten-day quarantine and comply with testing measures before and on arrival.

The latest measures add to the list of seven other African countries from which UAE, alongside other Mideast Gulf countries, suspended entry at the end of November. Passenger arrivals remains banned from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique.

The authorities have also introduced new travel requirements for those coming from Uganda and Ghana. Passengers travelling on direct and transit flights are required to have a negative COVID-19 test obtained within 48 hours and a rapid-PCR test at the airport within six hours of the departure. Those travelling on transit flights are also required to take another rapid PCR test at the transit airport before being allowed to enter the UAE.

The restrictions come as Covid-19 situation in the UAE took a turn for the worse in the week ahead of holidays. The number of new daily infection cases average at 300 in December so far, but cases rose sharply in the few latest days -– from 301 new infections on 20 December, to 1,621 on 25 December. The new infection cases averaged at 71 in November.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) said it expects holiday traffic to increase almost 400pc compared to 2020 driven by increased passenger demand, flight numbers and network presence. It estimates that between December 22 and January 2 an average of 32,000 passengers and 102 flights per day will pass through AUH. But that it still down from 59,000 passengers and 149 flights during the same period in 2019.

Dubai International airport (DXB) has recently announced it is back to full operating capacity and expects to see passenger numbers to Dubai rising to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year.

By Ieva Paldaviciute

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25/05/12

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White House ends use of carbon cost

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25/05/09

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