Dubai 20 June 2021: The Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai, headed by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced updates to Dubai’s travel protocols for inbound passengers from South Africa, Nigeria and India, effective from Wednesday 23rd June.
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, said Wam.
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.
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. 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.
The Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management said the updated travel protocols are part of a regular process of revising and optimising precautionary measures based on the latest local, regional and international developments. They are also aimed at enabling the city to continue serving as a global commercial hub and a bridge for travel and trade between the east and west.
UAE suspends flights from Liberia, Sierra Leon, Namibia
The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) have announced the suspension of all inbound flights for national and international carriers coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Namibia, effective 23:59 on Monday, June 21st.
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 on Saturday.
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.
The GCAA affirmed that 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 the staffs of UAE embassies in the three countries are excluded from this decision, provided that they should 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.
This comes in response to the proactive precautionary and preventive health measures issued by all authorities concerned in the country to limit the spread of the COVID pandemic-19, the statement added.
The authority called on all travellers affected by the decision to follow up and communicate with the airlines to amend and schedule their flights and to ensure their safe return to their final destinations without any delay or other obligations.
European Council updates list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted
BRUSSELS: The European Council updated the list of countries, special administrative regions and other entities and territorial authorities for which travel restrictions should be lifted.
According to the Council, this list will continue to be reviewed every two weeks and, as the case may be, updated.
Based on the criteria and conditions set out in the recommendation, as from 18 June 2021 member states should gradually lift the travel restrictions at the external borders for residents of the following third countries:Albania, Australia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Republic of North Macedonia, Rwanda, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the United States of America.
China remains subject to confirmation of reciprocity.
Travel restrictions should also be gradually lifted for the special administrative regions of China Hong Kong and Macao. The condition of reciprocity for these special administrative regions has been lifted.
Schengen associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) also take part in this recommendation.
Europe updates air travel guidelines
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Thursday issued a new version of the Aviation Health Safety Protocol providing clear operational guidance and risk-based recommendations for health-safe air travel to complement the European Union’s initiatives, such as the EU Digital COVID Certificates, The new version of the document, published on the ECDC’s website, takes into account new evidence and information such as the circulation of variants of concern (VOCs) and the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programmes. The new version also emphasises the need to keep non-pharmaceutical measures in place – such as the wearing of medical face masks, hygiene measures and physical distancing. It is intended to provide support to national authorities in the Member States and to aviation stakeholders and is based on the latest scientific evidence, epidemiological situation and policy developments.
In line with current scientific evidence and the European Council recommendation, the Protocol proposes that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or who recovered from the disease in the last 180 days should not be subject to testing or quarantine, unless they are coming from an area of very high risk or where a Variant of Concern is circulating. For travel from such destinations, the requirement for a negative test could be considered. This could be either a Rapid Antigen Detection Test (RADT) taken no more than 48 hours before arrival or a PCR test no more than 72 hours before arrival. Also, the use of Passenger Locator Forms to facilitate contact tracing is still considered very important.
In addition, physical distancing of at least one metre must be maintained and medical masks must be worn at all stages of the journey. Hand and respiratory hygiene measures also need to be observed. All these measures are recommended for EU air travel, but also for air travel to and from third countries.
