Italy to open quarantine-free travel for UAE visitors

DG Staff

DUBAI 1 June 2021: Dubai Airports has hailed the Italian government’s decision to waive the 10-day quarantine requirement for all categories of travellers from the UAE, in favour of test-based travel protocols, with effect from 2nd June, 2021.

All passengers arriving on flights from the UAE to the Italian airports of Rome/Fiumicino, Milan/Malpensa and Venice/Marco Polo are free to circulate throughout the country without restriction, , provided they have a negative Covid-19 test result dated not more than 48 hours before departure from the UAE.

Those testing positive will have to undergo a period of isolation at a Covid-19 approved hotel local to their point of arrival, in accordance with the applicable Covid-19 protocols, and upon arrival in Italy, all passengers over the age of two years will be required to take a rapid antigen test Praising Italy’s decision as a pragmatic and practical move, Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports said, “This is an important step towards recovery from the global pandemic and will give travellers to Europe the opportunity to plan long-anticipated trips to one of the world’s most popular destinations. It demonstrates the confidence that both countries have in their approach to overcoming the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and is one of the most significant bilateral travel corridors which are vital to reboot travel. We hope that other countries will follow Italy’s example in leading the global recovery”

Griffiths added, “The pandemic has caused a lot of social and economic damage and devastated millions of jobs across so many industries over the past 14 months. What the world desperately needs now is a safe return to the mobility and connectivity to aid the momentum of economic recovery, based on prudent risk management rather than risk avoidance”.

The UAE-Italy corridor is the latest in a series of travel corridor agreements signed by the UAE, including with Greece, Serbia, Seychelles and Bahrain.

Emirates restarts flights to Venice, ups services to Milan

Emirates will resume flights between Dubai and Venice from 1 July, initially offering 3 flights a week on the route, increasing trade and tourism connectivity between the UAE and Italy, and offering customers more travel options.

The airline will also increase services to Milan from 8 to 10 weekly flights in July. This will comprise of a daily service on the Dubai-Milan-New York JFK route, and a 3-weekly return flights between Dubai and Milan. Together with Emirates’ 5 weekly flights to Rome and 3 weekly flights to Bologna, this will take the airline’s total services to Italy to 21 weekly flights to 4 cities in July. Emirates will serve Venice, Milan, Rome and Bologna with its modern and comfortable widebody Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Emirates’ expansion of flight services in Italy follows the start of “Covid-Tested flight” arrangements, which allow its passengers to travel to Italy without quarantine on arrival.

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive said: “We welcome the Covid-Tested flight arrangements and would like to thank the Italian and UAE authorities for their ongoing efforts to ease and facilitate international travel. The UAE has a strong and longstanding relationship with Italy and the safe return of air connectivity will help boost mutual trade and tourism. As a global commercial hub, and home to people from more than 200 nations, Dubai and the UAE have spared no effort to keep communities safe from the pandemic – from our world-leading vaccination programme to our bio-safety protocols across all sectors including recreation and entertainment facilities, to schools, businesses and airports. We hope that more countries will consider similar arrangements to facilitate quarantine-free travel.”

Effective 2 June, Emirates customers travelling to Italy aged 2 years and above, are required to hold a negative Covid-19 PCR-RT or Rapid Antigen test result valid for 48 hours prior to departure. Travellers must also take a Rapid Antigen swab test on arrival in Italy, at their own cost. For more details on entry requirements to Italy, customers can check the travel requirements page on emirates.com.

Emirates remains focused on taking various steps to ease travel and has been a leader in introducing initiatives in cooperation with health authorities and organisations to protect the health of customers and to ensure their safety. Emirates introduced measures on the ground throughout all touchpoints and onboard to provide its passengers with the highest safety and hygiene standards at every step of the journey. The airline has also recently introduced contactless technology to ease the customer journey through Dubai airport.

Air Arabia resumes flights to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan

Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC), has announced the resumption of direct flights between Sharjah and Bishkek starting July 2nd, 2021.

Customers can now book their direct flights between Sharjah and Bishkek by visiting Air Arabia’s website, by calling the call centre or through travel agencies.

Ensuring the highest standards of safety at every step of the journey by following all health and safety protocols, Air Arabia has also added to the convenience and confidence of passengers by introducing free Covid-19 insurance coverage. The insurance is automatically included as part of the booking and no additional documents are required from passengers.

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