The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to lift the ban on transit passenger flights from Pakistan, India, Nigeria and other countries from 5 August 2021. The announcement was made by the National Emergency Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) on Tuesday.
The UAE had banned passengers from several South Asian and African countries due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, the NCEMA has said that passengers traveling from countries where transit flights were suspended would be able to transit through its airports from Thursday (5 August 2021) as long as they present a negative PCR test taken 72 hours prior to departure.
Travel for transit passengers from Pakistan will be resumed, provided that the traveler’s last destination is accepted with submission of laboratory examination within 72 hours from the time of departure, and the UAE’s airports will allocate special lounges for transit passengers
— UAE Embassy PK (@uaeembassyisb) August 3, 2021
It added that final destination approval would have to be provided and UAE departure airports would arrange separate lounges for transiting passengers.
It is pertinent to mention that the transit ban by UAE included Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uganda. The NCEMA said that the ban on entry to UAE for passengers of these countries would also be lifted for those with valid residencies and certified as fully vaccinated by the Emirati authorities.
However, these passengers will need to apply for online entry permits prior to travelling and would need to present a negative PCR test taken 48 hours prior to departure.
Furthermore, those passengers working in the medical, educational and government sectors as well those studying or completing medical treatment will be exempt from the vaccination requirement along with humanitarian cases.
Read more: Saudi Arabia to impose 3-year travel ban on citizens visiting ‘red list’ countries.
