Dubai is set to reopen its doors to travellers from India, South Africa and Nigeria under strict Covid-19 health and safety protocols.
The update was announced by the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai and will come into effect from Wednesday.
With regard to travel from India, only passengers with a valid residence visa who have received two doses of a UAE-approved vaccine, are allowed to travel to Dubai. They should also present a negative test certificate from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure; UAE nationals are exempted from this requirement. Only QR-coded negative PCR test certificates are accepted.
The new protocols allow travellers from South Africa, who have received two doses of a UAE-approved vaccine to enter Dubai. Passengers must present a negative result from a PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure to Dubai; UAE nationals are exempted from this PCR test requirement. Passengers must also undergo a PCR test on arrival in Dubai. Transit passengers should comply with entry protocols of final destinations.
Headed by @sheikhmansoor, the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in #Dubai announces updates to Dubai’s travel protocols for inbound passengers from South Africa, Nigeria and India, effective from Wednesday 23 June 2021.https://t.co/Zfma4YWugQ pic.twitter.com/NkhIzaQwzI
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) June 19, 2021
For travelers from Nigeria, passengers must present a negative test result for a PCR test taken 48 hours prior to departure; UAE citizens are exempted from this requirement. The negative PCR test certificate should carry a QR Code and the test must have been conducted by labs approved by the Nigerian Government. Passengers must also undergo a PCR test on arrival in Dubai. Transit passengers should comply with entry protocols of final destinations.
Furthermore, passengers from India are required to undergo a rapid PCR test four hours prior to departure to Dubai. They must also undergo another PCR test on arrival in Dubai. In addition, following arrival, passengers from India should undergo institutional quarantine until they receive their PCR test result, which is expected within 24 hours. UAE citizens and diplomats are exempted from institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile, on Saturday it was announced by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) that all inbound flights for national and international carriers coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Namibia, will be suspended effective 23:59 on Monday, June 21.
The travel suspension includes inbound transit passengers with the exception of transit flights coming to the UAE and heading to these countries, the GCAA said in a statement.
The GCAA indicated that it is required for those coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Namibia through other countries that the period of their stay in the latter countries is not less than 14 days to be allowed access to the UAE.
Cargo flights between these countries and the UAE will continue, as usual, the statement added.
UAE nationals, their first-degree relatives, diplomatic missions between the UAE and the three countries, official delegations, businessmen’s planes – after getting prior approvals – and golden and silver residency permit holders, in addition to the holders of essential jobs according to the classification of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) and UAE embassy staff in the three countries are excluded from this decision, provided that they take preventive measures that include a mandatory 10-day quarantine and a PCR test at the airport as well as another test on the fourth and eighth days of entering the country.
According to the decision, the period of the required PCR test is reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours, provided that the tests are issued by accredited laboratories and carrying the QR Code.
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