According to
report from The United Arab Emirates (UAE) office In Abuja, the UAE authorities
in Dubai had on June 19, announced a revision in procedures for international
passengers coming from Nigeria, the Republic of India and South Africa.
According to NAN reports, in the
newly announced procedures, the authorities said it will ease restrictions and
confirmed that Emirate Airlines would start carrying passengers from these countries
with effect from June 23.
The new rules
is contained in a statement issued by the Supreme Committee of Crisis and
Disaster Management in Dubai.
The Chairman
of the Supreme Committee, Sheikh Mansoor Al-Maktoum said that the updates are
part of the Committee’s keenness to protect passengers and ease hassles for
them without compromising on Covid-19 preventive measures.
“the updated travel
protocols are part of a normal process of revising and optimising preventive
measures based on the latest local, regional and international developments” According
to the media officer of the Emirate airline".
“Following the
announcement, UAE carrier Emirates Airlines confirmed it would start carrying
passengers from South Africa, Nigeria and India in accordance with the new
protocols from June 23".
“We look forward to
facilitating travel from these countries and supporting various travellers’
categories.’’
“Residence
visa holders from India and travellers from South Africa should’ve taken two
doses of a vaccine approved by UAE authorities and carry RT-PCR tests reports
from labs approved by the federal governments of these countries".
“But for Nigerians
vaccination is not made mandatory but all other conditions apply. In addition
to the above, Indians have to take a rapid PCR test four hours prior to their
travel".
“While there are
four vaccines in the UAE for use on eligible individuals against the COVID-19
infection – Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik V and Oxford-AstraZeneca, it is
unclear if the UAE has approved vaccines administered on Indian, South African
and Nigerian citizens in their countries.’’ he concluded.
As part of the
protocols, all international passengers are also required to present a negative
Covid-19 test result taken within 48 hours before departure, with the exemption
of UAE citizens.
It states that
only QR coded PCR test result certificates are accepted. All passengers must
take a rapid PCR test 4 hours before flight departure and must undergo a PCR
test on arrival at Dubai Airport.
Passengers
should undergo institutional quarantine until they receive their PCR test
result, which is expected within 24 hours.
Passengers
should produce a negative PCR test certificate with a QR Code from labs
approved by the Nigerian government.
It can be
recalled that in February 2021, the UAE authorities suspended the airlifting of
passengers from Nigeria to Dubai but stated that airlines can airlift
passengers from Dubai to Nigeria as part of measures to curb the spread of
Covid-19.
The ban on
international flights from Nigeria by the UAE authorities was further extended
in the month of March.
The Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority had on February 5 barred the Emirates airline from
Nigeria, due to non-compliance with Covid-19 protocols as well as the
introduction of rapid antigen test as a requirement for Dubai travelers against
the Nigerian government’s negative PCR requirements.
The Federal
Government had earlier in June, said that it was discussing with the UAE
authorities on the resumption of flight operations between the two countries
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